On the record
It is avarice by proxy; it is avarice not working by itself or for itself, but through the medium of parental affection, meaning to procure good to its offspring.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “It is avarice by proxy; it is avarice not working by itself or for itself, but through the medium of parental affection…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke discusses the complex nature of parental motivations, suggesting that avarice can be tempered by parental love.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
They will become flatterers instead of legislators,--the instruments, not the guides of the people.
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
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
They come from one who has been no tool of power, no flatterer of greatness, and who in his last acts does not wish to belie the tenor of his life.
Other voices in this conversation
