Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: The panegyric and the satire ought to be suffered to go to trial; and that which shrinks from if must be contented to…

On the record
The panegyric and the satire ought to be suffered to go to trial; and that which shrinks from if must be contented to stand, at best, as a mere declamation.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke insists that both praise and satire should be tested against reality, rather than merely being rhetorical flourishes.

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