Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: “But they will be afraid to act ill, if they know that the day of their account is always near.”

On the record
But they will be afraid to act ill, if they know that the day of their account is always near.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke suggests that accountability can deter wrongdoing among political actors.

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More from Edmund Burke

Jan 1, 1790

I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…

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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

They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.

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Jan 1, 1790

The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.

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