On the record
The rights of men and the new principles of liberty and equality were very unhandy instruments for those who wished to establish a system of tranquillity and order.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “The rights of men and the new principles of liberty and equality were very unhandy instruments for those who wished to…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke argues that the concepts of liberty and equality can be problematic for establishing order.
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More from Edmund Burke
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…
Jan 1, 1790
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
Jan 1, 1790
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.
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.
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