Political Quotes

Walter Bagehot: “All the actions of life are to be submitted to a single rule for a single object; that gradually created the 'hereditary…”

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All the actions of life are to be submitted to a single rule for a single object; that gradually created the 'hereditary drill' which science teaches to be essential, and which the early instinct of men saw to be essential too.
Said by
Walter Bagehot

Editor's note · Context

Bagehot argues for the necessity of a single rule governing all actions in life to establish order.

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More from Walter Bagehot

I cannot, therefore, join in the full cry against anomalies; in my judgment it may quickly overrun the scent, and so miss what we should be glad to find.

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I own that I do not entirely sympathise with the horror of these anomalies which haunts some of our best critics.

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Just so the lines of our Constitution were framed in old eras of sparse population, few wants, and simple habits; and we adhere in seeming to their shape, though civilisation has come with its dangers, complications, and enjoyments.

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Political philosophy is still more imperfect; it has been framed from observations taken upon regular specimens of politics and States; as to these its teaching is most valuable.

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