249 quotes
We must not always judge of the generality of the opinion by the noise of the acclamation.
Letters On a Regicide Peace (1796)
I would rather sleep in the southern corner of a little country churchyard, than in the tombs of the Capulets.
I am convinced that we have a degree of delight, and that no small one, in the real misfortunes and pains of others.
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
A definition may be very exact, and yet go but a very little way towards informing us of the nature of the thing defined.
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)
He was not merely a chip of the old Block, but the old Block itself.
To please universally was the object of his life; but to tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men.
The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.
Hypocrisy, of course, delights in the most sublime speculations; for, never intending to go beyond speculation, it costs nothing to have it magnificent.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
A good parson once said, that where mystery begins, religion ends. Cannot I say, as truly at least, of human laws, that where mystery begins, justice ends?
A Vindication of Natural Society (1756)
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.
On the Impeachment of Warren Hastings (1794)
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.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Never expecting to find perfection in men, and not looking for divine attributes in created beings, in my commerce with my contemporaries, I have found much human virtue.
Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol (1777)
Men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.
Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)
In all forms of government the people is the true legislator.
But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
A people who are still, as it were, but in the gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood.
Men who undertake considerable things, even in a regular way, ought to give us ground to presume ability.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)
Religious persecution may shield itself under the guise of a mistaken and over-zealous piety.
Writers, especially when they act in a body and with one direction, have great influence on the public mind.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)