Power and eminence and consideration are things not to be begged; they must be commanded: and they who supplicate for mercy from others can never hope for justice through themselves.
Edmund Burke: “Power and eminence and consideration are things not to be begged; they must be commanded: and they who supplicate for…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke emphasizes that power must be commanded rather than begged, highlighting the importance of self-respect in justice.
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By adhering in this manner and on those principles to our forefathers, we are guided, not by the superstition of antiquarians, but by the spirit of philosophic analogy.
But the king of Great Britain obeys no other person; all other persons are individually, and collectively too, under him, and owe to him a legal obedience.
The engagement and pact of society, which generally goes by the name of the Constitution, forbids such invasion and such surrender.
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.





