In on summer they have done their business... they have completely pulled down to the ground their monarchy, their church, their nobility, their law, their revenue, their army, their navy, their commerce, their arts, and their manufactures... destroyed all balances and counterpoises which serve to fix a state and give it steady direction, and then they melted down the whole into one incongrous mass of mob and democracy... the people, along with their political servitude, have thrown off the yoke of law and morals.
Edmund BurkeMen are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.
Edmund BurkeNothing ought to be more weighed than the nature of books recommended by public authority. So recommended, they soon form the character of the age.
Edmund BurkeNothing, indeed, but the possession of some power can with any certainty discover what at the bottom is the true character of any man.
Edmund BurkeMy good friends, while I do most earnestly recommend you to take care of your health and safety, as things most precious to us, I would not have that care degenerate into an effeminate and over-curious attention, which is always disgraceful to a man's self, and often troublesome to others.
Edmund Burke