On the record
To defend a post of importance against a powerful enemy requires an Eliot; a drunken invalid is qualified to hoist a white flag, or to deliver up the keys of the fortress on his knees.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “To defend a post of importance against a powerful enemy requires an Eliot; a drunken invalid is qualified to hoist a…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke contrasts the qualities needed for true leadership with those required for mere submission.
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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
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.
Jan 1, 1790
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
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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.
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