A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country.
Burke distinguishes between well-intentioned but impractical idealists and effective statesmen, emphasizing that the latter work with the realities of their nation rather than abstract ideals.
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The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
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…
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.
The body of the people must not find the principles of natural subordination by art rooted out of their minds.
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