“ It is better to cherish virtue and humanity by leaving much to free will, even with some loss to the object, than to attempt to make men mere machines and instruments of a political benevolence. The world on the whole will gain by a liberty without which virtue cannot exist. ”
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). copy citation
| Author | Edmund Burke |
|---|---|
| Source | Reflections on the Revolution in France |
| Topic | humanity loss |
| Date | 1790 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Reflections_on_the_Revolution_in_France |
Context
“former and fed with the victuals which ought to nourish the children of the
people. It is true, the whole church revenue is not always employed, and to
every shilling, in charity, nor perhaps ought it, but something is
generally employed. It is better to cherish virtue and humanity by leaving
much to free will, even with some loss to the object, than to attempt to
make men mere machines and instruments of a political benevolence. The
world on the whole will gain by a liberty without which virtue cannot
exist.
When once the commonwealth has established the estates of the church as
property, it can, consistently, hear nothing of the more or the less. "Too
much" and "too little" are treason against property.”
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