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It has been said that England invented the phrase, 'Her Majesty's Opposition' that it was the first government which made a criticism of administration as much a part of the polity as administration itself. This critical opposition is the consequence of cabinet government.

Walter Bagehot

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Walter Bagehot
Age: 51 †
Born: 1826
Born: February 3
Died: 1877
Died: March 24
Businessperson
Economist
Engineer
Journalist
Political Scientist
Politician
Sociologist
Langport
Somerset
Much
Consequence
Cabinet
Made
Critical
Cabinets
Criticism
Majesty
England
Phrase
Part
Invented
Government
Phrases
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Opposition
First
Administration
Polity

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History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manliness, and have thus prepared themselves for destruction as soon as the movements of the world have a chance for it.
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The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.
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Capital must be propelled by self-interest it cannot be enticed by benevolence.
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The real essence of work is concentrated energy.
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Civilized ages inherit the human nature which was victorious in barbarous ages, and that nature is, in many respects, not at all suited to civilized circumstances.
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The mystic reverence, the religious allegiance, which are essential to a true monarchy, are imaginative sentiments that no legislature can manufacture in any people.
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In my youth I hoped to do great things now I shall be satisfied to get through without scandal.
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So long as there are earnest believers in the world, they will always wish to punish opinions, even if their judgment tells them it is unwise and their conscience that it is wrong.
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Stupidity is nature's favorite resource for preserving consistency of opinion.
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The maxim of science is simply that of common sense-simple cases first begin with seeing how the main force acts when there is as little as possible to impede it, and when you thoroughly comprehend that, add to it in succession the separate effects of each of the incumbering and interfering agencies.
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The great pleasure of life is doing for pleasure things I do not like to do.
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One cannot make men good by Act of Parliament.
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But of all nations in the world the English are perhaps the least a nation of pure philosophers.
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An ambassador is not simply an agent he is also a spectacle.
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The peculiar essence of our banking system is an unprecedented trust between man and man. And when that trust is much weakened by hidden causes, a small accident may greatly hurt it, and a great accident for a moment may almost destroy it.
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The characteristic merit of the English constitutions is, that its dignified parts are very complicated and somewhat imposing, very old and rather venerable, while its efficient part, at least when in great and critical action, is decidedly simple and modern.
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Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions.
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The cardinal maxim is, that any aid to a present bad Bank is the surest mode of preventing the establishment of a future good Bank.
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