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

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

Edmund Burke

Wisdom, Historical, Conservative

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

Edmund Burke

Life, Courage, Time

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

Edmund Burke

Stupid, Law, Essence

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

Edmund Burke

Motivational, Peace, Fire

176 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

109 Copy quote
There ought to be system of manners in every nation which a well-formed mind would be disposed to relish. To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

Edmund Burke

Country, Lovely, Mind

Edmund Burke (1814). “Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event”, p.79

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

Edmund Burke

Conquer, Conquering Fear

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

Edmund Burke

Liberty, Doe, Morality

38 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

32 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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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

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

Edmund Burke

Yellow, Silence, Golden

167 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.

143 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

19 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

45 Copy quote
It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.

Edmund Burke

Law, Justice, Humanity

"On Moving His Resolutions for Conciliation with the Colonies," 22 Mar. 1775

25 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

129 Copy quote
When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment, we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port to steer.

Edmund Burke

Taken, Loss, Opinion

Edmund Burke (1868). “Reflections on the Revolution in France and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event: 1790”, p.92

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Evil prevails when good men fail to act.

Edmund Burke

Men, Evil, Good Man

34 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)

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

Edmund Burke

Carpe Diem, Pact, Carpe

88 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

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

Edmund Burke

Inspirational, Perseverance, May

17 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)

111 Copy quote

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

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