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There is no safety for honest men, but by believing all possible evil of evil men, and by acting with promptitude, decision, and steadiness on that belief.

Edmund Burke

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Edmund Burke
Age: 68 †
Born: 1729
Born: January 12
Died: 1797
Died: July 9
Philosopher
Politician
Statesman
Writer
Dublin city
Wisdom
Possible
Belief
Acting
Steadiness
Evil
Believing
Believe
Safety
Men
Honest
Decision

More quotes by Edmund Burke

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Thank God, men that art greatly guilty are never wise.
Edmund Burke
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There are three estates in Parliament but in the Reporters' Gallery yonder there sits a Fourth Estate more important far than they all. It is not a figure of speech or witty saying, it is a literal fact, very momentous to us in these times.
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All that needs to be done for evil to prevail is good men doing nothing.
Edmund Burke
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A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a very little way towards informing us of the nature of the thing defined.
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It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact.
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When you fear something, learn as much about it as you can. Knowledge conquers fear.
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Nobility is a graceful ornament to the civil order. It is the Corinthian capital of polished society.
Edmund Burke
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To speak of atrocious crime in mild language is treason to virtue.
Edmund Burke
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It is the nature of tyranny and rapacity never to learn moderation from the ill-success of first oppressions on the contrary, all oppressors, all men thinking highly of the methods dictated by their nature, attribute the frustration of their desires to the want of sufficient rigor.
Edmund Burke
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The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.
Edmund Burke
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To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at the present possessors of power, to lament the past, to conceive extravagant hopes of the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of mankind.
Edmund Burke
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Under the pressure of the cares and sorrows of our mortal condition, men have at all times, and in all countries, called in some physical aid to their moral consolations - wine, beer, opium, brandy, or tobacco.
Edmund Burke
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In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind.
Edmund Burke
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Prejudice renders a man's virtue his habit, and a series of unconnected arts. Though just prejudice, his duty becomes a part of his nature.
Edmund Burke
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A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.
Edmund Burke
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Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power but they will never look to anything but power for their relief.
Edmund Burke
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Liberty must be limited in order to be possessed.
Edmund Burke
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Men love to hear of their power, but have an extreme disrelish to be told their duty.
Edmund Burke
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A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.
Edmund Burke
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The parties are the gamesters but government keeps the table, and is sure to be the winner in the end.
Edmund Burke