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

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

Edmund Burke

Wisdom, Historical, Conservative

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

Edmund Burke

Life, Courage, Time

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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

154 Copy quote
Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.

Edmund Burke

Mother, Fear, Motherhood

Edmund Burke (1816). “The Speeches of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke in the House of Commons and in Westminster Hall: In Four Volumes”, p.62

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The essence of tyranny is the enforcement of stupid laws.

Edmund Burke

Stupid, Law, Essence

55 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

95 Copy quote
Genuine simplicity of heart is a healing and cementing principle.

Edmund Burke

Healing, Heart, Simplicity

Edmund Burke, Robert MONTGOMERY (Author of “Satan.”.) (1853). “Edmund Burke: being first principles selected from his writings. With an introductory essay by Robert Montgomery”, p.43

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The marketplace obliges men, whether they will or not, in pursuing their own selfish interests, to connect the general good with their own individual success.

Edmund Burke

Success, Selfish, Men

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Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality.

Edmund Burke

Liberty, Doe, Morality

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

Edmund Burke

Conquer, Conquering Fear

94 Copy quote
Liberty, without wisdom, is license.

Edmund Burke

Wisdom, Liberty, License

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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.

131 Copy quote
A very great part of the mischiefs that vex the world arises from words.

Edmund Burke

World, Vex, Arise

Edmund Burke (1852). “The Works and Correspondance of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke”, p.58

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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

42 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

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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

117 Copy quote
If the prudence of reserve and decorum dictates silence in some circumstances, in others prudence of a higher order may justify us in speaking our thoughts.

Edmund Burke

Order, Silence, May

Edmund Burke (1912). “Reflections on the French Revolution”, p.9, CUP Archive

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

Edmund Burke

Yellow, Silence, Golden

150 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

34 Copy quote
The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

Edmund Burke

Wisdom, Freedom, Giving Up

Speech at County Meeting of Buckinghamshire, 1784

49 Copy quote
The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.

Edmund Burke

Emotional, Curiosity, Mind

Edmund Burke (2010). “On Taste, on the Sublime and Beautiful, Reflections on the French Revolution & a Letter to a Noble Lord”, p.29, Cosimo, Inc.

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By gnawing through a dike, even a rat may drown a nation.

Edmund Burke

Inspirational, Perseverance, May

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When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.

Edmund Burke

People, Leader, Auctions

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.353

23 Copy quote

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

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