Ballast: Weight added to a boat to enhance stability. âThe J/24 has 950 pounds of lead ballast.â. Berth: A sleeping area on a boat. Also, a place where a boat is tied up. âWe slept in the forward berth while John and Amy slept in the quarter berthâ or âWe keep our boat in a berth at McDoodleâs Marina.â.
Lord Acton writes to Bishop Creighton that the same moral standards should be applied to all men, political and religious leaders included, especially since âPower tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutelyâ (1887) From: Acton-Creighton Correspondence (John Emerich Edward Dalberg, Lord Acton)
Perhaps to say that X corrupts Y is to say that X changes Y in a way that is regrettable. If that is what Acton meant, then to say that power corrupts is to say that power makes people worse persons. Perhaps access to power makes one more prone to violate the rights and freedoms of others, more vicious, and so on.