On the record
Sensible men of substantial means are what we wish to be ruled by, and a peerage of genius would not compare with it in power.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “Sensible men of substantial means are what we wish to be ruled by, and a peerage of genius would not compare with it in…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot argues that practical experience and wealth are more valuable in governance than mere intellectual prowess.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
The United States could not have become monarchical, even if the Constitutional Convention had decreed it, even if the component States had ratified it.
It is absurd to choose by contested party election an impartial chooser of Ministers.
Now it is not conceivable that a race of beings with valuable instincts supporting their existence and supplying their wants would need these simple tools.
Those who doubt should go out into their kitchens.
Other voices in this conversation
