On the record
Government with insolence is despotism; but when contempt is added, it becomes worse; and to pay for contempt is the excess of slavery.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Government with insolence is despotism; but when contempt is added, it becomes worse; and to pay for contempt is the…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke distinguishes between despotism and a more contemptuous form of governance, equating the latter with extreme oppression.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
An irregular, convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off an irregular, convulsive disease.
Jan 1, 1790
They have little regard to the obvious consequences of their doctrine, though they may see that it leaves positive authority in very few of the positive institutions of this country.
Jan 1, 1790
Who could doubt but that, at any expense to the state, of which they understood nothing, they must pursue their private interests, which they understood but too well?
Jan 1, 1790
By adhering in this manner and on those principles to our forefathers, we are guided, not by the superstition of antiquarians, but by the spirit of philosophic analogy.
Other voices in this conversation
