Power Corrupts

Too much of anything is vain. Lord Acton’s famous phrase, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men” is an example that supports the foundation of this statement. It is proven several times throughout literature the evils of “too much”. For example, as Shelley quotes in her novel Frankenstein, “A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility.” Her character Frankenstein simply was in love with knowledge beyond normal science, and that led him to his own destruction and agonizing torture. Other examples can be concluded from history; Hitler, Castro, Mussolini, etc., were men in absolute power of their people, and in each result pain broke through. As a nation in the United States, we rely on moderation. Compromise is key because absolute certainty in one subject is dangerous.