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Meaning
Burke is saying that politics works best when leaders act with generosity and breadth of mind. He contrasts that with small-mindedness, suggesting that limited thinking is a poor fit for governing a large empire.
When It Was Said
1775
Who It Was Said To
Not documented yet.
Historical Context
Not documented yet.
Source
Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America, Speech
Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
The phrase appears verbatim in the public-domain text "Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America, Speech" (Wikisource); no earlier source was checked.
Did You Know?
Not documented yet.
About Edmund Burke
Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, and politician
Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, and politician. He is widely credited as a founder of conservatism in its cultural and political form, and is regarded as one of the most influential conservative thinkers and political writers of the 18th century. Burke spent most of his career in Great Britain and sat in the House of Commons as a Whig MP from 1766 to 1794. His writings helped shape public opinion in Great Britain and France after the French Revolution in 1789, and he remains a major reference point in modern conservative circles.
More from Edmund Burke (112 quotes) →Other sayings from Edmund Burke
- “Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in my opinion, is safe.”Edmund Burke
- “You can never plan the future by the past.”Edmund Burke
- “It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their pas…”Edmund Burke
- “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
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Books by Edmund Burke
Reflections on the revolution in France
2009
A philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful
1987
Optimal Muscle Performance and Recovery
2003