A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views.
 Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). copy citation

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Author Edmund Burke
Source Reflections on the Revolution in France
Topic innovation temper
Date 1790
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15679/15679-h/15679-h.htm#REFLECTIONS

Context

“We have an inheritable crown, an inheritable peerage, and a House of Commons and a people inheriting privileges, franchises, and liberties from a long line of ancestors. This policy appears to me to be the result of profound reflection,—or rather the happy effect of following Nature, which is wisdom without reflection, and above it. A spirit of innovation is generally the result of a selfish temper and confined views. People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors. Besides, the people of England well know that the idea of inheritance furnishes a sure principle of conservation, and a sure principle of transmission, without at all excluding a principle of improvement.” source