They must take it for granted that we attend much to their reason, but not at all to their authority.
Edmund Burke: “They must take it for granted that we attend much to their reason, but not at all to their authority.”
Editor's note · Context
In his critique of the French National Assembly, this line describes how those who propose new societal principles should expect their arguments to be judged by reason alone, without deference to their self-proclaimed authority.
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The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
Those who are servants in name, as well as in effect, do not like to be told of their situation, their duty, and their obligations.
But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
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