“Pour encourager les autres” (To encourage the others) — Voltaire commenting on the execution of British Admiral John Byng after he failed to hold Minorca. A mysterious deathPitt’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
“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 of the certainty of corruption by authority.”
Note: "superadd" seems like a word created by a millennial, but it was used at least as early as 1500
Your suspicions are valid, as I wouldn’t put anything past Putin, a fragile man with an even more fragile ego, thank you Pitt
As Lord Acton said (in full):
“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 of the certainty of corruption by authority.”
Note: "superadd" seems like a word created by a millennial, but it was used at least as early as 1500
You are welcome, Stephanie