Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: “I conceived nothing arbitrarily, nor proposed anything to be done by the will and pleasure of others or my own,--but by…”

On the record
I conceived nothing arbitrarily, nor proposed anything to be done by the will and pleasure of others or my own,--but by reason, and by reason only.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke emphasizes the importance of reason in governance, rejecting arbitrary decision-making.

Share

More from Edmund Burke

Jan 1, 1790

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

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1790

They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.

gutenberg.org
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…

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1790

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

gutenberg.org

Other voices in this conversation