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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.

— Edmund Burke Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

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More quotes by Edmund Burke

Whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither, in my opinion, is safe.

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

Speech at a County Meeting of Buckinghamshire (1784)

You can never plan the future by the past.

A Letter to a Member of the National Assembly (1791)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Edmund Burke (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.