A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
My vigour relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a balance between personal freedom and the constraints of societal order.
Edmund Burke's quote suggests a moment of concession in the struggle for liberty, acknowledging that while it is crucial to uphold freedom, there are times when one must temper that pursuit in the name of practical governance and social order. It reveals the complexity of liberating ideals against the backdrop of real-world implications.
Themes
LibertyFreedomGovernanceConcessionBalance
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate on civil rights, one may use this quote to highlight the tension between liberty and order.
More from Edmund Burke
All quotes βTo read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Edmund BurkeRead
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
Edmund BurkeRead
The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.
Edmund BurkeRead
Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
Edmund BurkeRead
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund BurkeRead
Similar quotes
Human beings cannot be willed and molded into non-existence.
Angela DavisRead
There is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle, there is not a vice which does not live by secrecy.
Joseph PulitzerRead
Thus it is that "Some things are increased by being diminished, others are diminished by being increased." What others have taught, I also teach; verily, I will make it the root of my teaching.
LaoziRead
Flaubert was right when he said that our use of language is like a cracked kettle on which we bang out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we need to move the very stars to pity.
Christopher HitchensRead
The Lord is greater than all: I have said enough.
Saint PatrickRead
Mankind today is still making history without having any conscious idea of what it really wants or under what conditions it would stop being unhappy; in fact what it is doing seems to be making itself more unhappy and calling that unhappiness progress.
Norman O. BrownRead