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

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

  Edmund Burke

  Wisdom, Historical, Conservative

  189 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

  185 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

  116 Copy quote

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

  Edmund Burke

  Stupid, Law, Essence

  74 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

  181 Copy quote

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

  Edmund Burke

  Conquer, Conquering Fear

  117 Copy quote

• Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality.

  Edmund Burke

  Liberty, Doe, Morality

  45 Copy quote

• When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

  Edmund Burke

  Honesty, Integrity, War

  Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770) See Edmund Burke 28; Mill 18

  36 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

  127 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

  57 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.

  145 Copy quote

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

  Edmund Burke

  Yellow, Silence, Golden

  172 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

  51 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

  23 Copy quote

• Those who attempt to level never equalize

  Edmund Burke

  Levels

  1790 Reflections on the Revolution in France.

  10 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

  130 Copy quote

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

  Edmund Burke

  Carpe Diem, Pact, Carpe

  90 Copy quote

• Evil prevails when good men fail to act.

  Edmund Burke

  Men, Evil, Good Man

  36 Copy quote

• The great difference between the real leader and the pretender is that the one sees into the future, while the other regards only the present; the one lives by the day, and acts upon expediency; the other acts on enduring principles and for the immortality.

  Edmund Burke

  Leadership, Real, Differences

  21 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)

  108 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)

  114 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

  59 Copy quote

• Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.

  Edmund Burke

  Men, Liberty, Moral

  Edmund Burke (1828). “The Beauties of Burke: Consisting of Selections from His Works”, p.86

  60 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

  62 Copy quote

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