As all great qualities of the mind which operate in public, and are not merely suffering and passive, require force for their display, I had almost said for their unequivocal existence, the revenue, which is the spring of all power, becomes in its administration the sphere of every active virtue.
In his reflections on the French Revolution, Burke argues that public virtues, requiring force for their expression, find their sphere in the administration of revenue, which he identifies as the source of all power.
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I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
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.
The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
Our people will find employment enough for a truly patriotic, free, and independent spirit, in guarding what they possess from violation.
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