On the record
The people are the natural control on authority; but to exercise and to control together is contradictory and impossible.
Said by
Edmund Burke
Source
gutenberg.orgEdmund Burke: “The people are the natural control on authority; but to exercise and to control together is contradictory and…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke claims that the people serve as a natural check on authority, but cannot do both exercise and control power simultaneously.
Share
More from Edmund Burke
Jan 1, 1790
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.
Jan 1, 1790
I would not exclude alteration neither; but even when I changed, it should be to preserve.
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.
Jan 1, 1790
It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.
Other voices in this conversation
