Quotes & anectdotes from the wise, the foolish, the courageous & the drunk

Edmund Burke Statesman

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United Kingdom
  • Born: Jan 12, 1729
  • Died: Jul 9, 1797

Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman born in Dublin; author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher, who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party.

Mainly, he is remembered for his support of the cause of the American Revolutionaries, and for his later opposition to the French Revolution. The latter led to his becoming the leading figure within the conservative faction of the Whig party, which he dubbed the "Old Whigs", in opposition to the pro-French Revolution "New Whigs", led by Charles James Fox.

Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals in the nineteenth century. Since the twentieth century, he has generally been viewed as the philosophical founder of conservatism.

Nothing turns out to be so oppressive and unjust as a feeble government. government

It is, generally, in the season of prosperity that men discover their real temper, principles, and designs. men

All human laws are, properly speaking, only declaratory they have no power over the substance of original justice. power

The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth. aging

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. being good & men

Politics and the pulpit are terms that have little agreement. politics

There is a boundary to men's passions when they act from feelings but none when they are under the influence of imagination. imagination & men

Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing. art & poetry

Beauty in distress is much the most affecting beauty. beauty

When bad men combine, the good must associate else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle. being good, men & politics

Education is the cheap defense of nations. education

We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature. change, greatness & nature

No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear. fear

To tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men. men

The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. power

Religion is essentially the art and the theory of the remaking of man. Man is not a finished creation. art & religion

All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter. government

If you can be well without health, you may be happy without virtue. health

Nobility is a graceful ornament to the civil order. It is the Corinthian capital of polished society. society

Beauty is the promise of happiness. beauty & happiness

Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom and a great empire and little minds go ill together. greatness, politics & wisdom

Passion for fame: A passion which is the instinct of all great souls. greatness

Our patience will achieve more than our force. patience

Superstition is the religion of feeble minds. religion

Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference. religion

Facts are to the mind what food is to the body. food

Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it. history

Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair. work

Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling it never forgives preaching of a new gospel. society

What ever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man. God

A State without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. change

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. being good

Mere parsimony is not economy. Expense, and great expense, may be an essential part in true economy. greatness

You can never plan the future by the past. the future & time

It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact. nature

Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none. being good

I venture to say no war can be long carried on against the will of the people. war

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