Political Quotes

On the record
And then, when in this speculative way he has established, or thinks he has, the vices of the government, he conceives he has found a sufficient apology for his own crimes.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

Burke critiques a leader's attempt to justify their misdeeds by distancing themselves from the consequences of their actions.

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Jan 1, 1790

The speculative line of demarcation, where obedience ought to end and resistance must begin, is faint, obscure, and not easily definable.

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This idea of a liberal descent inspires us with a sense of habitual native dignity, which prevents that upstart insolence almost inevitably adhering to and disgracing those who are the first acquirers of any distinction.

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Ill would our ancestors at the Revolution have deserved their fame for wisdom, if they had found no security for their freedom, but in rendering their government feeble in its operations and precarious in its tenure,--if they had been able…

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No experience has taught us that in any other course or method than that of an hereditary crown our liberties can be regularly perpetuated and preserved sacred as our hereditary right.

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