On the record
You fancy that the object of your loyalty is as much elevated above you by intrinsic nature as he is by extrinsic position; you deify him in sentiment, as once men deified him in doctrine.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “You fancy that the object of your loyalty is as much elevated above you by intrinsic nature as he is by extrinsic…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot reflects on the nature of loyalty and the perception of rulers in society.
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Our law very often reminds one of those outskirts of cities where you cannot for a long time tell how the streets come to wind about in so capricious and serpent-like a manner.
The lessons are good where its primitive assumptions hold, but may be false where those assumptions fail.
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
It is natural that those who by special and admirable culture have come to look at all things upon the artistic side, should start back from these queer peculiarities.
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