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Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke Quotes

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Famous Edmund Burke Quotes

“There ought to be system of manners in every nation which a well-formed mind would be disposed to relish. To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.”

MindWellsCountryWould BeNationsOughtLovelyOur CountryMannersRelishCountry Love
Book:Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event
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“Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.”

LibertySocietyAppetiteVirtuousCivil LibertiesControlling Power
Book:A Letter from Mr. Burke, to a Member of the National Assembly: In Answer to Some Objections to His Book on French Affairs
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“The science of constructing a commonwealth or renovating it, or reforming it, is...not to be taught a priori...That which in the first instance is prejudicial may be excellent in its remoter operation, and its excellence may rise even from the ill effects it produces in the beginning. The reverse also happens; and very plausible schemes, with very pleasing commencements, have often shameful and lamentable conclusions.”

FirstsMayGovernmentHappensEffectsProduceTaughtExcellenceIllConclusionInstanceExcellentOperationsSchemesReverseShamefulCommonwealthPlausibleCommencement
Author:Edmund Burke
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“You had that action and counteraction which, in the natural and in the political world, from the reciprocal struggle of discordant powers draws out the harmony of the universe.”

WorldActionPoliticalUniversePoliticsNaturalStruggleDrawsHarmonyLife StruggleReciprocal
Book:Maxims and opinions, moral, political and economical, with characters, from the works of ... Edmund Burke
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“"War," says Machiavelli, "ought to be the only study of a prince;" and by a prince he means every sort of state, however constituted. "He ought," says this great political doctor, "to consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes ability to execute military plans." A meditation on the conduct of political societies made old Hobbes imagine that war was the state of nature.”

GivingMeanMadeWarStatesPoliticalPeaceAbilityStudyMeditationImaginePlansMilitaryOughtDoctorsPlanningBreathingLeisureImagine ThatHobbesGreat Political
Author:Edmund Burke
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“Adversity is a severe instructor, set over us by one who knows us better than we do ourselves, as he loves us better too. He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper. This conflict with difficulty makes us acquainted with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial.”

KnowsSufferingChallengesObjectsSkillsConflictDifficultyRelationAdversityNervesSevereSuperficialInstructorsHelpersAntagonist
Author:Edmund Burke
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“In on summer they have done their business... they have completely pulled down to the ground their monarchy, their church, their nobility, their law, their revenue, their army, their navy, their commerce, their arts, and their manufactures... destroyed all balances and counterpoises which serve to fix a state and give it steady direction, and then they melted down the whole into one incongrous mass of mob and democracy... the people, along with their political servitude, have thrown off the yoke of law and morals.”

PeopleGivingArtStatesDoneWholeLawPoliticalChurchMoralHistoryDemocracyBalanceSummerMassArmyDestroyedThrownSteadyCommerceRevenueNavyNobilityMonarchyServitudeYoke
Author:Edmund Burke
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“We are in a war of a peculiar nature. It is not with an ordinary community, which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about: not with a state which makes war through wantonness, and abandons it through lassitude. We are at war with a system, which by its essence, is inimical to all other governments, and which makes peace or war, as peace and war may best contribute to their subversion. It is with an armed doctrine that we are at war. It has, by its essence, a faction of opinion, and of interest, and of enthusiasm, in every country.”

MayWarCountryStatesGovernmentPassionInterestCommunityOpinionHistoryOrdinaryEssenceDoctrineEnthusiasmFriendlyAbandonPeculiarHostileMaking PeaceFactionsSubversion
Author:Edmund Burke
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“Reflect how you are to govern a people who think they ought to be free, and think they are not. Your scheme yields no revenue; it yields nothing but discontent, disorder, disobedience; and such is the state of America, that after wading through up to your eyes in blood, you could only end up where you begun; that is, to tax where no revenue is to be found... all is confusion beyond it.”

PeopleThinkingEndsStatesEyeAmericaFoundHistoryBloodOughtTaxesConfusionYieldDisorderSchemesRevenueDisobedienceDiscontent
Book:Speech on Conciliation with America
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