Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: For it is not, perhaps, so much by the assumption of unlawful powers as by the unwise or unwarrantable use of those…

On the record
For it is not, perhaps, so much by the assumption of unlawful powers as by the unwise or unwarrantable use of those which are most legal, that governments oppose their true end and object: for there is such a thing as tyranny, as well as usurpation.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke discusses the dangers of governments misusing their legal powers, equating such misuse with tyranny.

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