“ The ignorance of the people is a bottom but for a temporary system; the interest of active men in the State is a foundation perpetual and infallible. ”
Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770). copy citation
| Author | Edmund Burke |
|---|---|
| Source | Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents |
| Topic | ignorance interest |
| Date | 1770 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Thoughts_on_the_Cause_of_the_Present_Disc... |
Context
“and which the distresses and the prosperity of the country equally tended to aug-ment, was an admirable substitute for a Prerogative, that, being only the offspring of antiquated prejudices, had moulded in its original stamina irresistible principles of decay and dissolution. The ignorance of the people is a bottom but for a temporary system; the interest of active men in the State is a foundation perpetual and infallible. However, some circumstances, arising, it must be confessed, in a great degree from accident, prevented the effects of this influence for a long time from breaking out in a manner capable of exciting any serious apprehensions.”
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