… is from page 653 of the 1988 collection of Lord Acton’s writings (edited by the late J. Rufus Fears), Essays in Religion, Politics, and Morality; specifically, it’s a note drawn from Acton’s extensive papers at Cambridge University; (I can find no date for this passage):
We require in an honest man, not submission, but resistance and independence.
DBx: Truer words were never etched, quilled, penned, typed, thought, whispered, spoken, broadcast, telecast, texted, scribbled, emailed, blogged, preached, or shouted from rooftops.