And, after all, when an ambitious man had run down his competitors by a fallacious show of disinterestedness, and fixed himself in power by that means, what security is there that he would not change his course, and claim as an indemnity ten times more than he has given up?
Burke warns about the dangers of ambitious individuals who may manipulate their way into power under false pretenses.
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More from Edmund Burke
This is the spirit of our Constitution, not only in its settled course, but in all its revolutions.
The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.
But the course of succession is the healthy habit of the British Constitution.
An irregular, convulsive movement may be necessary to throw off an irregular, convulsive disease.
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