On the record
Religion, therefore, is not believed because the laws have established it, but it is established because the leading part of the community have previously believed it to be true.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgReligion, therefore, is not believed because the laws have established it, but it is established because the leading part of the community have previously believed it to be true.
Burke explains that religious beliefs are established by the community's prior convictions rather than by legal endorsement.
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The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
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.
But when the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service.