Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: As I understood the matter, we were at war, not with its conduct, but with its existence,--convinced that its existence…

On the record
As I understood the matter, we were at war, not with its conduct, but with its existence,--convinced that its existence and its hostility were the same.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke clarifies that the conflict is fundamentally about the faction's existence and its inherent hostility.

Share

More from Edmund Burke

Jan 1, 1790

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.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1790

Who could conceive that men who are habitually meddling, daring, subtle, active, of litigious dispositions and unquiet minds, would easily fall back into their old condition of obscure contention, and laborious, low, and unprofitable…

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1790

We procure reverence to our civil institutions on the principle upon which Nature teaches us to revere individual men: on account of their age, and on account of those from whom they are descended.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1790

Those who are servants in name, as well as in effect, do not like to be told of their situation, their duty, and their obligations.

gutenberg.org

Other voices in this conversation