Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: “The thing most extraordinary was to hear the culprit defend himself from the imputation of his virtues, as if they had…”

On the record
The thing most extraordinary was to hear the culprit defend himself from the imputation of his virtues, as if they had been the blackest offences.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke critiques the absurdity of a person defending their virtues as if they were crimes.

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But when the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service.

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Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.

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Let us add, if we please, but let us preserve what they have left; and standing on the firm ground of the British Constitution, let us be satisfied to admire, rather than attempt to follow in their desperate flights, the aëronauts of…

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I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.

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