John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, KCVO, DL (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Bt from 1837 to 1869 and usually referred to simply as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He was the only son of Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet and a grandson of the Neapolitan admiral Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet. He is famous for his remark, often misquoted: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Quotes·Quotations by Lord Acton
Freedom
@ Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.
[in The History of Freedom in Antiquity (1877)]
Writing·Reading
¶ Learn as much by writing as by reading.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Acton