---
title: "I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike … — John Acton Quote #7 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they did not wrong. If there is any… — a quote by John Acton."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they did not wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way against holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

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## More from John Acton

1. > There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men. Imagine a congress of eminent celebrities, such as More, Bacon, Grotius, P…

[Permalink to quote \#6](https://quotesby.net/John-Acton/6/ "Permalink to quote 6")
2. > There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.

[Permalink to quote \#8](https://quotesby.net/John-Acton/8/ "Permalink to quote 8")
3. > The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. The law of liberty tends to abolish the reign of race over race, …

[Permalink to quote \#5](https://quotesby.net/John-Acton/5/ "Permalink to quote 5")

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