Edmund Burke Quotes

Quotes about:

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  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

  Edmund Burke

  Inspirational, Wisdom, Witty

  354 Copy quote
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  Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.

  Edmund Burke

  Wisdom, Historical, Conservative

  167 Copy quote

• The Fate of good men who refuse to become involved in politics is to be ruled by evil men.

  Edmund Burke

  Fate, Men, Evil

  98 Copy quote
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  The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.

  Edmund Burke

  Motivational, Peace, Fire

  159 Copy quote
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  Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

  Edmund Burke

  Life, Courage, Time

  163 Copy quote

• The essence of tyranny is the enforcement of stupid laws.

  Edmund Burke

  Stupid, Law, Essence

  58 Copy quote

• Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality.

  Edmund Burke

  Liberty, Doe, Morality

  26 Copy quote

• When you fear something, learn as much about it as you can. Knowledge conquers fear.

  Edmund Burke

  Conquer, Conquering Fear

  97 Copy quote

• Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.

  Edmund Burke

  Freedom, Carpe Diem, Law

  Speech at the Guildhall, Bristol, England, 6 Sept. 1780

  25 Copy quote
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  In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.

  Edmund Burke

  Freedom, Exercise, Democracy

  Edmund Burke (1790). “Reflections on the Revolution in France: And on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. In a Letter Intended to Have Been Sent to a Gentleman in Paris”, p.186

  114 Copy quote

• Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites…in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.

  Edmund Burke

  Wise, Passion, Men

  Letter to a Member of the National Assembly, 1791.

  133 Copy quote

• All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing as they must if they believe they can do nothing. There is nothing worse because the council of despair is declaration of irresponsibility; it is Pilate washing his hands.

  Edmund Burke

  Believe, Men, Hands

  43 Copy quote

• All men have equal rights, but not to equal things.

  Edmund Burke

  Equality, Men, Rights

  Edmund Burke (1834). “The Works of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke: With a Biographical and Critical Introduction, and Portrait After Sir Joshua Reynolds”, p.403

  36 Copy quote

• History is a pact between the dead, the living, and the yet unborn.

  Edmund Burke

  Carpe Diem, Pact, Carpe

  76 Copy quote

• Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power; but they will never look to anything but power for their relief.

  Edmund Burke

  Power, Years, Relief

  'Letter to a Member of the National Assembly' (1791) p. 12

  119 Copy quote

• Silence is golden but when it threatens your freedom it's yellow.

  Edmund Burke

  Yellow, Silence, Golden

  152 Copy quote

• To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.

  Edmund Burke

  Reading, Book, Thinking

  76 Copy quote

• The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.

  Edmund Burke

  Bullying, Freedom, Work

  Speech on the Middlesex Election, 7 February 1771, in 'The Speeches' (1854)

  102 Copy quote

• Rage and frenzy will pull down more in half an hour than prudence, deliberation, and foresight can build up in a hundred years.

  Edmund Burke

  Years, Evil, Half

  Edmund Burke, Christian ENGLISH (pseud.) (1861). “Liberation tested by Philosophy and Experience. In “Reflections on the French Revolution,” etc. [The dedication signed: Christian English.]”, p.14

  11 Copy quote

• Evil prevails when good men fail to act.

  Edmund Burke

  Men, Evil, Good Man

  26 Copy quote

• Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays instead of serving you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

  Edmund Burke

  Sacrifice, Government, Political

  Speech to electors of Bristol, 3 Nov. 1774

  21 Copy quote

• Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.

  Edmund Burke

  Hypocrisy, Broken Promises, Cost

  86 Copy quote

• There is no safety for honest men, but by believing all possible evil of evil men, and by acting with promptitude, decision, and steadiness on that belief.

  Edmund Burke

  Wisdom, Believe, Men

  "Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches".

  48 Copy quote

• They defend their errors as if they were defending their inheritance.

  Edmund Burke

  Failure, Errors, Political

  Edmund Burke, James BURKE (Barrister-at-Law.) (1854). “The Speeches of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke, with Memoir and Historical Introductions. By James Burke”, p.178

  19 Copy quote

• Religion is the basis of civil society, and the source of all good and of all comfort.

  Edmund Burke

  Religion, Comfort, Source

  Edmund Burke (1963). “Edmund Burke: Selected Writings and Speeches”, p.560, Transaction Publishers

  10 Copy quote

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