Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: We apprehend that mild measures may be powerfully enforced, and that acts of extreme rigor and injustice may be attended…

On the record
We apprehend that mild measures may be powerfully enforced, and that acts of extreme rigor and injustice may be attended with as much feebleness in the execution as severity in the formation.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke suggests that mild measures can be effectively enforced, challenging the notion that severity guarantees strength.

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