On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
Virtue and wisdom may be the objects of their choice; but their choice confers neither the one nor the other on those upon whom they lay their ordaining hands.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Virtue and wisdom may be the objects of their choice; but their choice confers neither the one nor the other on those…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke contends that while people may choose leaders, their selection does not inherently impart virtue or wisdom to those chosen.
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I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…
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The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
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Whatever they are, I wish my countrymen rather to recommend to our neighbors the example of the British Constitution than to take models from them for the improvement of our own.
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