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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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Edmund Burke
Age: 68 †
Born: 1729
Born: January 12
Died: 1797
Died: July 9
Philosopher
Politician
Statesman
Writer
Dublin city
Live
Present
Lament
Greatest
Extravagant
Age
Conceive
Common
Disposition
Future
Complain
Past
Hopes
Possessors
Part
Complaining
Murmur
Power
Mankind
Dispositions

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The arrogance of age must submit to be taught by youth.
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He that accuses all mankind of corruption ought to remember that he is sure to convict only one.
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Contempt is not a thing to be despised.
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Humanity cannot be degraded by humiliation.
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Hypocrisy is no cheap vice nor can our natural temper be masked for many years together.
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A good parson once said that where mystery begins religion ends. Cannot I say, as truly at least, of human laws, that where mystery begins justice ends?
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Politics ought to be adjusted not to human reasonings but to human nature, of which reason is but a part and by no means the greatest part.
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Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality.
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Unsociable humors are contracted in solitude, which will, in the end, not fail of corrupting the understanding as well as the manners, and of utterly disqualifying a man for the satisfactions and duties of life. Men must be taken as they are, and we neither make them or ourselves better by flying from or quarreling with them.
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When slavery is established in any part of the world, those who are free are by far the most proud and jealous of their freedom.
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The only kind of sublimity which a painter or sculptor should aim at is to express by certain proportions and positions of limbs and features that strength and dignity of mind, and vigor and activity of body, which enables men to conceive and execute great actions.
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The greatest crimes do not arise from a want of feeling for others but from an over-sensibilit y for ourselves and an over-indulgence to our own desires
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Religion is essentially the art and the theory of the remaking of man. Man is not a finished creation.
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Men have no right to what is not reasonable, and to what is not for their benefit.
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It is known that the taste--whatever it is--is improved exactly as we improve our judgment, by extending our knowledge, by a steady attention to our object, and by frequent exercise.
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Some degree of novelty must be one of the materials in almost every instrument which works upon the mind and curiosity blends itself, more or less, with all our pleasures.
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An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent.
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Neither the few nor the many have a right to act merely by their will, in any matter connected with duty, trust, engagement, or obligation.
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The moment that government appears at market, the principles of the market will be subverted.
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People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.
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