Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: What! a qualification on the indefeasible rights of men?

On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
What! a qualification on the indefeasible rights of men?
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke rhetorically questions the French revolutionaries' imposition of qualifications on voting rights, which contradicts their stated principle of the indefeasible rights of men.

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