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.
There are no greater adversaries than yin and yang, because nothing in Heaven or on Earth escapes them. But it is not yin and yang that do this, it is your heart that makes it so.
Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.
I do not like Moscow life. You live here not as you want to live, but as old women want you to.
Again, the glory of one attribute is more seen in one work than in another: in some things there is more of His goodness, in other things more of His wisdom is seen, and in others more of His power. But in the work of redemption all His perfections and excellencies shine forth in their greatest glory.
Beauty makes idiots sad and wise men merry.
Ironically, the first thing that appealed to me about Islam was its pluralism. The fact that the Koran praises all the great prophets of the past.
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