Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: From this temper, men and factions, and nations too, have sacrificed the good of which they had been in assured…

On the record
From this temper, men and factions, and nations too, have sacrificed the good of which they had been in assured possession, in favor of wild and irrational expectations.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke observes that people often sacrifice their current well-being for unrealistic expectations of the future.

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They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.

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