Edmund Burke Quotes

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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

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

Edmund Burke

Wisdom, Historical, Conservative

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

Edmund Burke

Motivational, Peace, Fire

160 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
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.

Edmund Burke

Life, Courage, Time

164 Copy quote
The essence of tyranny is the enforcement of stupid laws.

Edmund Burke

Stupid, Law, Essence

59 Copy quote
Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality.

Edmund Burke

Liberty, Doe, Morality

27 Copy quote
When you fear something, learn as much about it as you can. Knowledge conquers fear.

Edmund Burke

Conquer, Conquering Fear

98 Copy quote
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

115 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

44 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

120 Copy quote
History is a pact between the dead, the living, and the yet unborn.

Edmund Burke

Carpe Diem, Pact, Carpe

77 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

37 Copy quote
Silence is golden but when it threatens your freedom it's yellow.

Edmund Burke

Yellow, Silence, Golden

152 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
Evil prevails when good men fail to act.

Edmund Burke

Men, Evil, Good Man

27 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)

103 Copy quote
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.

Edmund Burke

Reading, Book, Thinking

77 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

12 Copy quote
It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.

Edmund Burke

Errors, Liberty, Grumbling

'Observations on...the Present State of the Nation' (1769)

100 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

87 Copy quote
But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.

Edmund Burke

Wisdom, Evil, Liberty

Edmund Burke (2005). “Burke, Select Works”, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

61 Copy quote
Nothing turns out to be so oppressive and unjust as a feeble government.

Edmund Burke

Government, Unjust, Oppressive Governments

Edmund Burke (1912). “Reflections on the French Revolution”, p.235, CUP Archive

58 Copy quote
What ever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man.

Edmund Burke

God, Men, Unity

15 Copy quote

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Born: January 12, 1729
Died: July 9, 1797
Occupation: Statesman
Cite this Page: Citation

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