To execute laws is a royal office; to execute orders is not to be a king. However, a political executive magistracy, though merely such, is a great trust.

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

More quotes by Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

Speech at a County Meeting of Buckinghamshire (1784)

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

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.