Edmund Burke: “Even in the utmost latitude of defensive liberty, I wish to preserve all possible decorum.”

In some people I see great liberty, indeed; in many, if not in the most, an oppressive, degrading servitude.

The improvements of the National Assembly are superficial, their errors fundamental.

If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.

But to form a free government, that is, to temper together these opposite elements of liberty and restraint in one consistent work, requires much thought, deep reflection, a sagacious, powerful, and combining mind.