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Quote#Politics & Power

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of…

Quote byJohn Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton · 1834–1902

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The History of Freedom in Christianity (1877).

English (original)

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith. But it gave an immense impulse to absolutism by silencing the consciences of very religious kings, and made the good and the bad very much alike.

— John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton

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