A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart; nor will moderation be utterly exiled from the minds of tyrants.
Interpretation
Shame can prevent complete moral decay, even in tyrants, as it preserves a semblance of virtue and moderation.
This quote by Edmund Burke suggests that while tyranny and vice may prevail, the feeling of shame still lingers in the hearts of even the most corrupt individuals. It underscores the idea that virtue and moderation are never entirely lost; they may be suppressed, but the potential for moral reflection and rectitude remains, hinting at an inherent humanity within everyone.
In practice
In a speech about resilience in leadership, one might refer to this quote to emphasize the importance of moral integrity.
A great empire and little minds go ill together.
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.
Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Every bird which flies has the thread of the infinite in its claw. Germination includes the hatching of a meteor and the tap of a swallow's bill breaking the egg, and it leads forward the birth of an earth-worm and the advent of Socrates.
Power? It's like a Dead Sea fruit. When you achieve it, there is nothing there.
Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead.
Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.
To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.
The paradox of vengefulness is that it makes men dependent upon those who have harmed them, believing that their release from pain will come only when their tormentors suffer.
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