Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: “Instead of finding themselves obliged to conform to a fixed constitution, they have a power to make a constitution which…”

On the record
Instead of finding themselves obliged to conform to a fixed constitution, they have a power to make a constitution which shall conform to their designs.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke discusses the assembly's power to create a constitution that aligns with its own objectives, rather than adhering to an established one.

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More from Edmund Burke

Jan 1, 1790

Let us add, if we please, but let us preserve what they have left; and standing on the firm ground of the British Constitution, let us be satisfied to admire, rather than attempt to follow in their desperate flights, the aëronauts of…

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Jan 1, 1790

If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.

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Jan 1, 1790

Whatever they are, I wish my countrymen rather to recommend to our neighbors the example of the British Constitution than to take models from them for the improvement of our own.

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Jan 1, 1790

I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.

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