Walter Bagehot: “But no important practical question in real life can be uniformly…”

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But no important practical question in real life can be uniformly settled by a fixed and formal rule in this way.

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Walter Bagehot

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Bagehot argues against rigid rules for resolving practical political questions, emphasizing the complexity of real life.

More from Walter Bagehot

The whole history of civilisation, is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.

Savages waste away before modern civilisation; they seem to have held their ground before the ancient.

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.

The Parliament, the laws, the press were human institutions; but the Monarchy was a Divine institution.

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Walter Bagehot: “But no important practical question in real life can be uniformly settled by a fixed and formal rule in this way.”