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Magnanimity In Politics Is Not Seldom The Truest Wisdom; And A Great Empire And Little Minds Go Ill Together.
-Edmund Burke
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Magnanimity In Politics Is

Edmund Burke
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Magnanimity In Politics Is Not Seldom The Truest Wisdom; And A Great Empire And Little Minds Go Ill Together.

Understanding the Quote: "magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great..."

This quote by Edmund Burke reflects deeply on the theme of mind. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Mind, Together, Politics, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Edmund Burke interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke is celebrated for insightful thoughts on mind and together. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Mind
Together
Politics
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When Bad Men Combine, The Good Must Associate; Else They Will Fall One By One, An Unpitied Sacrifice In A Contemptible Struggle.
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Whenever A Separation Is Made Between Liberty And Justice, Neither, In My Opinion, Is Safe.
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You Had That Action And Counteraction Which, In The Natural And In The Political World, From The Reciprocal Struggle Of Discordant Powers Draws Out The Harmony Of The Universe.
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The Science Of Constructing A Commonwealth Or Renovating It, Or Reforming It, Is...not To Be Taught A Priori...that Which In The First Instance Is Prejudicial May Be Excellent In Its Remoter Operation, And Its Excellence May Rise Even From The Ill Effects It Produces In The Beginning. The Reverse Also Happens; And Very Plausible Schemes, With Very Pleasing Commencements, Have Often Shameful And Lamentable Conclusions.
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Vice Itself Lost Half Its Evil, By Losing All Its Grossness.
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In Doing Good, We Are Generally Cold, And Languid, And Sluggish; And Of All Things Afraid Of Being Too Much In The Right. But Theworks Of Malice And Injustice Are Quite In Another Style. They Are Finished With A Bold, Masterly Hand; Touched As They Are With The Spirit Of Those Vehement Passions That Call Forth All Our Energies, Whenever We Oppress And Persecute.
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Whatever Each Man Can Separately Do, Without Trespassing Upon Others, He Has A Right To Do For Himself; And He Has A Right To A Fair Portion Of All Which Society, With All It Combinations Of Skill And Force, Can Do In His Favor. In This Partnership All Men Have Equal Rights; But Not To Equal Things.
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To Give Freedom Is Still More Easy. It Is Not Necessary To Guide; It Only Requires To Let Go The Rein. But To Form A Free Government; That Is, To Temper Together These Opposite Elements Of Liberty And Restraint In One Work, Requires Much Thought, Deep Reflection, A Sagacious, Powerful, And Combining Mind.
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The Unbought Grace Of Life, The Cheap Defence Of Nations, The Nurse Of Manly Sentiment And Heroic Enterprise, Is Gone!
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I Do Ride Contend Against The Advantages Of Distrust. In The World We Live In, It Is But Too Necessary. Some Of Old Called It The Very Sinews Of Discretion.
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In Their Nomination To Office They Will Not Appoint To The Exercise Of Authority As To A Pitiful Job, But As To A Holy Function.
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The Question Is Not Whether You Have A Right To Render People Miserable, But Whether It Is Not In Your Best Interest To Make Them Happy.
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It Is By Sympathy We Enter Into The Concerns Of Others, That We Are Moved As They Are Moved, And Are Never Suffered To Be Indifferent Spectators Of Almost Anything Which Men Can Do Or Suffer. For Sympathy May Be Considered As A Sort Of Substitution, By Which We Are Put Into The Place Of Another Man, And Affected In Many Respects As He Is Affected.
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It Ought To Be The Happiness And Glory Of A Representative To Live In The Strictest Union, The Closest Correspondence, And The Most Unreserved Communication With His Constituents. Their Wishes Ought To Have Great Weight With Him; Their Opinion, High Respect; Their Business, Unremitted Attention.
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Obstinacy, Sir, Is Certainly A Great Vice; And In The Changeful State Of Political Affairs It Is Frequently The Cause Of Great Mischief. It Happens, However, Very Unfortunately, That Almost The Whole Line Of The Great And Masculine Virtues--constancy, Gravity, Magnanimity, Fortitude, Fidelity, And Firmness--are Closely Allied To This Disagreeable Quality, Of Which You Have So Just An Abhorrence; And In Their Excess All These Virtues Very Easily Fall Into It.
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The Power Of Discretionary Disqualification By One Law Of Parliament, And The Necessity Of Paying Every Debt Of The Civil List By Another Law Of Parliament, If Suffered To Pass Unnoticed, Must Establish Such A Fund Of Rewards And Terrors As Will Make Parliament The Best Appendage And Support Of Arbitrary Power That Ever Was Invented By The Wit Of Man.
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I Decline The Election. It Has Ever Been My Rule Through Life, To Observe A Proportion Between My Efforts And My Objects. I Have Never Been Remarkable For A Bold, Active, And Sanguine Pursuit Of Advantages That Are Personal To Myself.
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Teach Me, O Lark! With Thee To Greatly Rise, To Exalt My Soul And Lift It To The Skies.
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Over-taxation Cost England Her Colonies Of North America.
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True Religion Is The Foundation Of Society. When That Is Once Shaken By Contempt, The Whole Fabric Cannot Be Stable Nor Lasting.
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In General The Languages Of Most Unpolished People Have A Great Force And Energy Of Expression; And This Is But Natural. Uncultivated People Are But Ordinary Observers Of Things, And Not Critical In Distinguishing Them; But, For That Reason, They Admire More, And Are More Affected With What They See, And Therefore Express Themselves In A Warmer And More Passionate Manner.
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One That Confounds Good And Evil Is An Enemy To Good.
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Spain: A Whale Stranded Upon The Coast Of Europe.
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Among A People Generally Corrupt Liberty Cannot Long Exist.
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We Must Soften Into A Credulity Below The Milkiness Of Infancy To Think All Men Virtuous. We Must Be Tainted With A Malignity Truly Diabolical, To Believe All The World To Be Equally Wicked And Corrupt.
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The Wisdom Of Our Ancestors.
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No Government Ought To Exist For The Purpose Of Checking The Prosperity Of Its People Or To Allow Such A Principle In Its Policy.
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The Body Of All True Religion Consists, To Be Sure, In Obedience To The Will Of The Sovereign Of The World, In A Confidence In His Declarations, And In Imitation Of His Perfections.
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Silence Is Golden But When It Threatens Your Freedom It's Yellow.
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A Disposition To Preserve, And An Ability To Improve, Taken Together, Would Be My Standard Of A Statesman.
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As Mankind Becomes More Enlightened To Know Their Real Interests, They Will Esteem The Value Of Agriculture; They Will Find It In Their Natural--their Destined Occupation.
Real
Agriculture
Occupation
To Be Attached To The Subdivision, To Love The Little Platoon We Belong To In Society, Is The First Principle (the Germ As It Were) Of Public Affections. It Is The First Link In The Series By Which We Proceed Toward A Love To Our Country And To Mankind. The Interest Of That Portion Of Social Arrangement Is A Trust In The Hands Of All Those Who Compose It; And As None But Bad Men Would Justify It In Abuse, None But Traitors Would Barter It Away For Their Own Personal Advantage.
Country
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Fiction Lags After Truth, Invention Is Unfruitful, And Imagination Cold And Barren.
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Imagination
Fiction
Whenever Government Abandons Law, It Proclaims Anarchy.
Government
Law
Anarchy
The Writers Against Religion, Whilst They Oppose Every System, Are Wisely Careful Never To Set Up Any Of Their Own.
Religion
Careful
Against Religion
The Parties Are The Gamesters; But Government Keeps The Table, And Is Sure To Be The Winner In The End.
Party
Government
Tables
He Only Deserves To Be Remembered By Posterity Who Treasures Up And Preserves The History Of His Ancestors.
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Ancestor
Remembered
Is It In Destroying And Pulling Down That Skill Is Displayed? The Shallowest Understanding, The Rudest Hand, Is More Than Equal To That Task.
Hands
Skills
Understanding
Refined Policy Ever Has Been The Parent Of Confusion, And Ever Will Be So As Long As The World Endures. Plain Good Intention, Which Is As Easily Discovered At The First View As Fraud Is Surely Detected At Last, Is Of No Mean Force In The Government Of Mankind.
Mean
Views
Government
All The Forces Of Darkness Need To Succeed ... Is For The People To Do Nothing.
People
Darkness
Succeed
As The Rose-tree Is Composed Of The Sweetest Flowers And The Sharpest Thorns, As The Heavens Are Sometimes Overcast—alternately Tempestuous And Serene—so Is The Life Of Man Intermingled With Hopes And Fears, With Joys And Sorrows, With Pleasure And Pain.
Inspirational
Pain
Flower
Genuine Simplicity Of Heart Is A Healing And Cementing Principle.
Healing
Heart
Simplicity
It Is The Nature Of Tyranny And Rapacity Never To Learn Moderation From The Ill-success Of First Oppressions; On The Contrary, All Oppressors, All Men Thinking Highly Of The Methods Dictated By Their Nature, Attribute The Frustration Of Their Desires To The Want Of Sufficient Rigor.
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Men
Thinking
I Find Along With Many Virtues In My Countrymen There Is A Jealousy, A Soreness, And Readiness To Take Offence, As If They Were The Most Helpless And Impotent Of Mankind, And Yet A Violence... And A Boistrousness In Their Resentment, As If They Had Been Puffed Up With The Highest Prosperity And Power. They Will Not Only Be Served, But It Must Also Be In Their Own Way And On Their Own Principles And Even In Words And Language That They Liked... Which Renders It Very Difficult For A Plain Unguarded Man As I Am To Have Anything To Do With Them Or Their Affairs.
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History
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The Tribunal Of Conscience Exists Independent Of Edicts And Decrees.
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Decree
Tribunals
I Do Not Hesitate To Say That The Road To Eminence And Power, From An Obscure Condition, Ought Not To Be Made Too Easy, Nor A Thing Too Much Of Course. If Rare Merit Be The Rarest Of All Things, It Ought To Pass Through Some Sort Of Probation. The Temple Of Honor Ought To Be Seated On An Eminence. If It Be Open Through Virtue, Let It Be Remembered, Too, That Virtue Is Never Tried But By Some Difficulty And Some Struggle.
Struggle
Greatness
Honor
The Very Name Of A Politician, A Statesman, Is Sure To Cause Terror And Hatred; It Has Always Connected With It The Ideas Of Treachery, Cruelty, Fraud, And Tyranny.
Names
Ideas
Hatred
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.
People
Leader
Auctions
What Is It We All Seek For In An Election? To Answer Its Real Purposes, You Must First Possess The Means Of Knowing The Fitness Of Your Man; And Then You Must Retain Some Hold Upon Him By Personal Obligation Or Dependence.
Real
Mean
Men
The Essence Of Tyranny Is The Enforcement Of Stupid Laws.
Stupid
Law
Essence
An Appearance Of Delicacy, And Even Fragility, Is Almost Essential To Beauty.
Beauty
Essentials
Fragility
The Great Error Of Our Nature Is, Not To Know Where To Stop, Not To Be Satisfied With Any Reasonable Acquirement; Not To Compound With Our Condition; But To Lose All We Have Gained By An Insatiable Pursuit After More.
Errors
Conservative
Pursuit
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.
Country
Lovely
Mind
Men Are Qualified For Civil Liberty In Exact Proportion To Their Disposition To Put Moral Chains Upon Their Own Appetites.
Men
Liberty
Moral
Facts Are To The Mind What Food Is To The Body.
Reality
Mind
Body
Great Men Are Never Sufficiently Shown But In Struggles.
Struggle
Greatness
Men
Religion Is Essentially The Art And The Theory Of The Remaking Of Man. Man Is Not A Finished Creation.
Inspirational
Life
Art
History Is A Pact Between The Dead, The Living, And The Yet Unborn.
Carpe Diem
Pact
Carpe
Wise Men Will Apply Their Remedies To Vices, Not To Names; To The Causes Of Evil Which Are Permanent, Not The Occasional Organs By Which They Act, And The Transitory Modes In Which They Appear.
Wise
Men
Names
Circumstances Give In Reality To Every Political Principle Its Distinguishing Color And Discriminating Effect. The Circumstances Are What Render Every Civil And Political Scheme Beneficial Or Noxious To Mankind.
Reality
Color
Giving
Old Religious Factions Are Volcanoes Burnt Out.
Religious
Volcanoes
Factions
Economy Is A Distributive Virtue, And Consists Not In Saving But Selection. Parsimony Requires No Providence, No Sagacity, No Powers Of Combination, No Comparison, No Judgment.
Saving
Judgment
Virtue
Those Who Attempt To Level Never Equalize
Levels
Power, In Whatever Hands, Is Rarely Guilty Of Too Strict Limitations On Itself.
Power
Hands
Guilty
Man Is By His Constitution A Religious Animal; Atheism Is Against Not Only Our Reason, But Our Instincts.
Religious
Men
Animal
General Rebellions And Revolts Of A Whole People Never Were Encouraged Now Or At Any Time. They Are Always Provoked.
Freedom
People
Democracy
They Never Will Love Where They Ought To Love, Who Do Not Hate Where They Ought To Hate.
Hate
Ought
You Can Never Plan The Future By The Past.
Time
Smart
Inspiration
I Am Not One Of Those Who Think That The People Are Never In The Wrong. They Have Been So, Frequently And Outrageously, Both In Other Countries And In This. But I Do Say That In All Disputes Between Them And Their Rulers, The Presumption Is At Least Upon A Par In Favour Of The People.
Country
Thinking
People
It Is Ordained In The Eternal Constitution Of Things, That Men Of Intemperate Minds Cannot Be Free. Their Passions Forge Their Fetters.
Passion
Character
Men
An Entire Life Of Solitude Contradicts The Purpose Of Our Being, Since Death Itself Is Scarcely An Idea Of More Terror.
Ideas
Solitude
Purpose
I Venture To Say No War Can Be Long Carried On Against The Will Of The People.
War
Long
People
Depend Upon It That The Lovers Of Freedom Will Be Free.
Freedom
Lovers
Depends
The Grave Is A Common Treasury, To Which We Must All Be Taken.
Taken
Common
Graves
Futurity Is The Great Concern Of Mankind.
Mankind
Concern
I Despair Of Ever Receiving The Same Degree Of Pleasure From The Most Exalted Performances Of Genius Which I Felt In Childhood From Pieces Which My Present Judgment Regards As Trifling And Contemptible.
Childhood
Romance
Despair
Nothing So Effectually Deadens The Taste Of The Sublime As That Which Is Light And Radiant.
Light
Sublime
Taste
Nothing Turns Out To Be So Oppressive And Unjust As A Feeble Government.
Government
Unjust
Oppressive Governments
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.
Society
Liberty
Appetite
To Tax And To Please, No More Than To Love And To Be Wise, Is Not Given To Men.
Love
Wise
Business
That The Greatest Security Of The People, Against The Encroachments And Usurpations Of Their Superiors, Is To Keep The Spirit Of Liberty Constantly Awake, Is An Undeniable Truth
People
Liberty
Spirit
The Distinguishing Part Of Our Constitution Is Its Liberty. To Preserve That Liberty Inviolate, Is The Peculiar Duty And Proper Trust Of A Member Of The House Of Commons. But The Liberty, The Only Liberty I Mean, Is A Liberty Connected With Order, And That Not Only Exists With Order And Virtue, But Cannot Exist At All Without Them. It Inheres In Good And Steady Government, As In Its Substance And Vital Principle.
Order
Government
Liberty
A Perfect Democracy Is Therefore The Most Shameless Thing In The World.
Perfect
Democracy
World
It Is The Function Of A Judge Not To Make But To Declare The Law, According To The Golden Mete-wand Of The Law And Not By The Crooked Cord Of Discretion.
Law
Judging
Golden
There Is But One Law For All, Namely That Law Which Governs All Law, The Law Of Our Creator, The Law Of Humanity, Justice, Equity - The Law Of Nature And Of Nations.
Wisdom
Equality
Law
There Is A Time When The Hoary Head Of Inveterate Abuse Will Neither Draw Reverence Nor Obtain Protection.
Abuse
Protection
Reverence
Our Manners, Our Civilization, And All The Good Things Connected With Manners And Civilization, Have, In This European World Of Ours, Depended For Ages Upon Two Principles: I Mean The Spirit Of A Gentleman, And The Spirit Of Religion.
Mean
Civilization
Two
The True Way To Mourn The Dead Is To Take Care Of The Living Who Belong To Them.
Mourning
Care
Way
Make The Revolution A Parent Of Settlement, And Not A Nursery Of Future Revolutions.
Parent
Revolution
Nursery
The Fate Of Good Men Who Refuse To Become Involved In Politics Is To Be Ruled By Evil Men.
Fate
Men
Evil
Education Is A Nation's Cheapest Defence
Historical
Defence
Nations
An Event Has Happened, Upon Which It Is Difficult To Speak, And Impossible To Be Silent.
Events
Statistics
Scandal
A Nation Is Not Conquered Which Is Perpetually To Be Conquered.
Nations
Religion Is For The Man In Humble Life, And To Raise His Nature, And To Put Him In Mind Of A State In Which The Privileges Of Opulence Will Cease, When He Will Be Equal By Nature, And May Be More Than Equal By Virtue.
Humble
Men
Mind
We Must All Obey The Great Law Of Change. It Is The Most Powerful Law Of Nature.
Inspirational
Friendship
Change
Politics And The Pulpit Are Terms That Have Little Agreement. No Sound Ought To Be Heard In The Church But The Healing Voice Of Christian Charity. The Cause Of Civil Liberty And Civil Government Gains As Little As That Of Religion By This Confusion Of Duties. Those Who Quit Their Proper Character To Assume What Does Not Belong To Them Are, For The Greater Part, Ignorant Both Of The Character They Leave And Of The Character They Assume.
Christian
Character
Healing
It Is In The Relaxation Of Security; It Is In The Expansion Of Prosperity; It Is In The Hour Of Dilatation Of The Heart, And Of Its Softening Into Festivity And Pleasure, That The Real Character Of Men Is Discerned.
Real
Heart
Character
Whatever Is Fitted In Any Sort To Excite The Ideas Of Pain And Danger, That Is To Say, Whatever Is In Any Sort Terrible, Or Is Conversant About Terrible Objects, Or Operates In A Manner Analogous To Terror, Is A Source Of The Sublime; That Is, It Is Productive Of The Strongest Emotion Which The Mind Is Capable Of Feeling... When Danger Or Pain Press Too Nearly, They Are Incapable Of Giving Any Delight, And Are Simply Terrible; But At Certain Distances, And With Certain Modifications, They May Be, And They Are, Delightful, As We Every Day Experience.
Pain
Ideas
Giving
Liberty Does Not Exist In The Absence Of Morality.
Liberty
Doe
Morality
I Dread Our Own Power, And Our Own Ambition; I Dread Our Being Too Much Dreaded... We May Say That We Shall Not Abuse This Astonishing, And Hitherto Unheard-of-power. But Every Other Nation Will Think We Shall Abuse It. It Is Impossible But That, Sooner Or Later, This State Of Things Must Produce A Combination Against Us Which May End In Our Ruin.
Ambition
Thinking
Abuse
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