On the record
No plea, nor pretence, of inconvenience or evil example (which must in their nature be daily and ordinary incidents) can be admitted as a reason for such mighty operations.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “No plea, nor pretence, of inconvenience or evil example (which must in their nature be daily and ordinary incidents) can…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke argues that no justification for significant actions can be based on inconvenience or bad examples.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
Jan 1, 1790
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.
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.
Jan 1, 1790
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
Other voices in this conversation
