On the record
Abuses of subordinate authority increase, and all means of redress lessen, as the distance of the subject removes him from the seat of the supreme power.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Abuses of subordinate authority increase, and all means of redress lessen, as the distance of the subject removes him…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke observes that abuses of authority increase as subjects become more distant from the supreme power.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
Not being illuminated with the light of which the gentlemen of France tell us they have got so abundant a share, they acted under a strong impression of the ignorance and fallibility of mankind.
Jan 1, 1790
I think our happy situation owing to our Constitution,--but owing to the whole of it, and not to any part singly,--owing in a great measure to what we have left standing in our several reviews and reformations, as well as to what we have…
Jan 1, 1790
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.
Jan 1, 1790
The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.
Other voices in this conversation
