Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: Are the decorations of temples an expenditure less worthy a wise man than ribbons, and laces, and national cockades, and…

On the record
Are the decorations of temples an expenditure less worthy a wise man than ribbons, and laces, and national cockades, and petit maisons, and petit soupers, and all the innumerable fopperies and follies in which opulence sports away the burden of its superfluity?
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke contrasts the worthiness of temple decorations with frivolous expenditures of the wealthy.

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