On the record
Obedience is what makes government, and not the names by which it is called: not the name of Governor, as formerly, or Committee, as at present.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “Obedience is what makes government, and not the names by which it is called: not the name of Governor, as formerly, or…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke argues that obedience is the essence of government, regardless of its title or structure.
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More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
But the king of Great Britain obeys no other person; all other persons are individually, and collectively too, under him, and owe to him a legal obedience.
Jan 1, 1790
Governments must be abused and deranged indeed, before it can be thought of; and the prospect of the future must be as bad as the experience of the past.
Jan 1, 1790
If all the absurd theories of lawyers and divines were to vitiate the objects in which they are conversant, we should have no law and no religion left in the world.
Jan 1, 1790
Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
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