On the record
He that is bound to act in the dark cannot be said to act freely.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “He that is bound to act in the dark cannot be said to act freely.”
Editor's note · Context
Burke reflects on the nature of freedom and the constraints that come with secrecy in decision-making.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.
Jan 1, 1790
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…
Jan 1, 1790
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
Jan 1, 1790
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…
Other voices in this conversation
