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
Our American values are not luxuries but necessities, not the salt in our bread, but the bread itself. Our common vision of a free and just society is our greatest source of cohesion at home and strength abroad, greater than the bounty of our material blessings.
Jimmy CarterRead
If you think you're free, there's no escape possible.
Ram DassRead
I like the truth sometimes, but I don't care enough for it to hanker after it.
Mark TwainRead
Personalβs not the same as important. People just think it is.
Terry PratchettRead
The perfection of Tawheed is found when there remains nothing in the heart except Allaah
Ibn Qayyim Al-JawziyyaRead
There is no official censorship in literature, but I feel a certain fear when I see that a kind of self-censorship is developing in Poland. Authors are somehow afraid of expressing what they really think or feel because they fear political consequences.
Olga TokarczukRead