On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
Deserters from principle, listed with fortune, they never see any good in suffering virtue, nor any crime in prosperous usurpation.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Deserters from principle, listed with fortune, they never see any good in suffering virtue, nor any crime in prosperous…”
Editor's note · Context
Criticizing those who abandon their principles for self-interest, Burke observes that such individuals fail to recognize virtue in suffering or crime in successful usurpation.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
Jan 1, 1790
Our people will find employment enough for a truly patriotic, free, and independent spirit, in guarding what they possess from violation.
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.
Jan 1, 1790
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
Other voices in this conversation
