Origin -- The Full Story
Absolute monarchies are those in which all power is given to or, as is more often the case, taken by, the monarch. Examples of absolute power having a corrupting influence are Roman emperors (who declared themselves gods) and Napoleon Bonaparte (who declared himself an emperor).
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" arose as part of a quotation by the expansively named John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834 - 1902). The historian and moralist, who was otherwise know as Lord Acton, expressed this opinion in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887:
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."
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| This is how little Donny Drumpf sees her, er, HIMself. Vanity thy name is Donald J. Trump. |
