It is not with much credulity I listen to any, when they speak evil of those whom they are going to plunder.
Edmund Burke: “It is not with much credulity I listen to any, when they speak evil of those whom they are going to plunder.”
Editor's note · Context
Reflecting on the motivations behind the attacks on the French nobility and clergy, Burke expresses his distrust of those who condemn others they intend to exploit.
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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.
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.
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.
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