On the record
By the structure of the world we often want, at the sudden occurrence of a grave tempest, to change the helmsman--to replace the pilot of the calm by the pilot of the storm.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “By the structure of the world we often want, at the sudden occurrence of a grave tempest, to change the helmsman--to…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot uses a metaphor of changing the helmsman to illustrate the need for different leadership in times of crisis.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
But as soon as the House met, Lord Thurlow became the greatest.
They say, We reject your Bill for this once or these twice, or even these thrice: but if you keep on sending it up, at last we won't reject it.
That a House of Commons may work well it must perform, as we saw, five functions well: it must elect a Ministry well, legislate well, teach the nation well, express the nation's will well, bring matters to the nation's attention well.
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.
Other voices in this conversation
