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Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke Quotes

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Famous Edmund Burke Quotes

“A man is allowed sufficient freedom of thought, provided he knows how to choose his subject properly.... But the scene is changed as you come homeward, and atheism or treason may be the names given in Britain to what would be reason and truth if asserted in China.”

IfsKnowsMenMayReasonWould BeNamesGivenKnow HowAtheismSubjectsChangedSceneChinaSufficientBritainComing HomeFreedom Of ThoughtTreason
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Edmund Burke (Illustrated)
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“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

ThinkingMenInspirationalWisdomEvilPeaceFreedomLibertyRightsSocietyMilitaryWise WordsGoodnessHumorousBraverySocial JusticeInjusticeWittyTyrannyTriumphGood And EvilGood ManSilence IsIdlenessBadassDoing NothingFreedom And LibertyInactionCriminal MindFreedom LibertyProperty RightsCivil DisobedienceTriumphantPeace And JusticeEvil PeopleHuman TraffickingRights And FreedomsEvil ManTraffickingBystandersEvil ThingsEternal VigilanceGood Against EvilNecessary EvilLiberty And JusticeMind OpeningLesser EvilWicked ManTwo EvilsPrice Of FreedomGood EvilLiberty And EqualityEvil WomenMoney Is The Root Of All EvilNecessary ThingsLesser Of Two EvilsRemaining SilentNature Of EvilSocial EvilsEvil GovernmentGoodness In The WorldEvil And SufferingTriumph Over EvilGood WarriorOvercoming Evil
Author:Edmund Burke
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“The person who grieves suffers his passion to grow upon him; he indulges it, he loves it; but this never happens in the case of actual pain, which no man ever willingly endured for any considerable time.”

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Book:The Works of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke: With a Biographical and Critical Introduction, and Portrait After Sir Joshua Reynolds
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“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites…in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. 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. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”

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Author:Edmund Burke
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“In the weakness of one kind of authority, and in the fluctuation of all, the officers of an army will remain for some time mutinous and full of faction, until some popular general, who understands the art of conciliating the soldiery, and who possesses the true spirit of command, shall draw the eyes of all men upon himself. Armies will obey him on his personal account. There is no other way of securing military obedience in this state of things.”

MenWayKindArtStatesEyeSpiritMilitaryAuthorityDrawsWeaknessAccountsArmyCommandObedienceOfficersNavyFactionsFluctuationArmy Navy
Book:Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event: 1790
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“It is better to cherish virtue and humanity, by leaving much to free will, even with some loss of the object , than to attempt to make men mere machines and instruments of political benevolence. The world on the whole will gain by a liberty, without which virtue cannot exist.”

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Book:The Portable Edmund Burke
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“There is America, which at this day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men and uncouth manners, yet shall, before you taste of death, show itself equal to the whole of that commerce which now attracts the envy of the world.”

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Book:The Works and Correspondence of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke
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“Prejudice is of ready application in the emergency; it previously engages the mind in a steady course of wisdom and virtue, and does not leave the man hesitating in the moment of decision, skeptical, puzzled and unresolved. Prejudice renders a man's virtue his habit; and not a series of unconnected acts. Through past prejudice, his duty becomes part of his nature.”

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Book:Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches
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“I find along with many virtues in my countrymen there is a jealousy, a soreness, and readiness to take offence, as if they were the most helpless and impotent of mankind, and yet a violence... and a boistrousness in their resentment, as if they had been puffed up with the highest prosperity and power. they will not only be served, but it must also be in their own way and on their own principles and even in words and language that they liked... which renders it very difficult for a plain unguarded man as I am to have anything to do with them or their affairs.”

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Author:Edmund Burke
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“To be attached to the subdivision, to love the little platoon we belong to in society, is the first principle (the germ as it were) of public affections. It is the first link in the series by which we proceed toward a love to our country and to mankind. The interest of that portion of social arrangement is a trust in the hands of all those who compose it; and as none but bad men would justify it in abuse, none but traitors would barter it away for their own personal advantage.”

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Author:Edmund Burke
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“My good friends, while I do most earnestly recommend you to take care of your health and safety, as things most precious to us, I would not have that care degenerate into an effeminate and over-curious attention, which is always disgraceful to a man's self, and often troublesome to others.”

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Book:The works and correspondence of...Edmund Burke
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