We are sensible that all men, and without any evil intentions, will naturally wish to extend their own jurisdiction, and to weaken all the power by which they may be limited and controlled.
Edmund Burke: “We are sensible that all men, and without any evil intentions, will naturally wish to extend their own jurisdiction, and…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke observes that individuals tend to seek more power while diminishing the limits placed upon them.
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If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
Not being illuminated with the light of which the gentlemen of France tell us they have got so abundant a share, they acted under a strong impression of the ignorance and fallibility of mankind.





