They sometimes grow out of the necessities, always out of the habits, of slavish and degenerate spirits; and on the theatre of the world, it is not by assuming the mask of a Davus or a Geta that an actor will obtain credit for manly simplicity and a liberal openness of proceeding.
Edmund Burke: “They sometimes grow out of the necessities, always out of the habits, of slavish and degenerate spirits; and on the…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke argues that adopting a false persona does not earn respect or credibility, advocating for authenticity.
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When such an unwarrantable maxim is once established, that no throne is lawful but the elective, no one act of the princes who preceded this era of fictitious election can be valid.
The ceremony of cashiering kings, of which these gentlemen talk so much at their ease, can rarely, if ever, be performed without force.
The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the Constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.
Governments must be abused and deranged indeed, before it can be thought of; and the prospect of the future must be as bad as the experience of the past.





