A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True freedom comes with self-discipline and moral restraint.
Edmund Burke suggests that civil liberty is directly linked to an individual's ability to exercise self-control over their desires and impulses. The more someone is willing to impose moral limitations on themselves, the more qualified they are to enjoy the freedom that comes from living in a civilized society. This highlights the importance of personal responsibility in the context of social freedom.
Themes
FreedomSelf-ControlMoralityCivil LibertyDiscipline
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal responsibility, one might use this quote to emphasize the need for self-regulation in society.
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
In an age where community involvement and partnerships with civil society are increasingly being recognized as indispensable, there is clearly a growing potential for cooperative development and renewal worldwide.
Kofi AnnanRead
A billion years or so into eternity, how many toys we accumulated during this life will not seem too terribly important.
D. A. CarsonRead
The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.
Joseph HellerRead
I firmly believe that when you die you will enter immediately into another life. They who have gone before us are alive in one form of life and we in another.
Norman Vincent PealeRead
God is concerned about everything that concerns us - without exception.
Billy GrahamRead
The glory of the gospel is this: The one from whom we need to be saved is the one who has saved us.
R. C. SproulRead