All Things Transcription

This is a quotation from Lord Acton, in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton, 1887:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."

Acton was preceded by William Pitt the Elder, who voiced a similar thought in a House of Lords speech in 1770:

"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my lords, that where laws end, tyranny begins."

I have found that this is one of the most accurate quotes I have ever heard. It happens all the time. You will find them running countries and running small companies. I know that many of you work for supervisors that bear this out. They don’t like to be challenged so handle them with kid gloves. Seriously.