Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: “To punish them capitally would be to make massacres.”

On the record
To punish them capitally would be to make massacres.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke warns that capital punishment would lead to mass killings, which is unacceptable.

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Jan 1, 1790

Not being illuminated with the light of which the gentlemen of France tell us they have got so abundant a share, they acted under a strong impression of the ignorance and fallibility of mankind.

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

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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…

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