The humors of the people, and of politicians too, are so variable in themselves, and are so much under the occasional influence of some leading men, that it is impossible to know what turn the public mind here would take on such an event.
Burke notes the unpredictability of public opinion influenced by leaders and events.
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Let us imitate their caution, if we wish to deserve their fortune or to retain their bequests.
To keep a balance between the power of acquisition on the part of the subject and the demands he is to answer on the part of the state is the fundamental part of the skill of a true politician.
To establish a current circulating credit upon any land-bank, under any circumstances whatsoever, has hitherto proved difficult at the very least.
Rome, under her emperors, united the evils of both systems; and this unnatural combination was one great cause of her ruin.
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