Such executions may, indeed, satiate our revenge; they may harden our hearts, and puff us up with pride and arrogance.
Edmund Burke: “Such executions may, indeed, satiate our revenge; they may harden our hearts, and puff us up with pride and arrogance.”
Editor's note · Context
Burke critiques the emotional and moral consequences of executions, suggesting they may lead to negative societal effects.
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Our people will find employment enough for a truly patriotic, free, and independent spirit, in guarding what they possess from violation.
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.
If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.
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.





