"It certainly was indiscretion, at any period, but especially at his time of life, to provoke enemies, or give his friends occasion to desert him; yet if his firm and steady adherence to the British constitution placed him in such a dilemma, he would risk all; and, as public duty and public prudence taught him, with his last words exclaim, "Fly from the French constitution." Mr. Fox here whispered, that "there was no loss of friends"]. Mr. Burke said Yes, there was a loss of friends—he knew the price of his conduct—he had done his duty at the price of his friend—their friendship was at an end."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Members of the Parliament of Great BritainPhilosophers from IrelandPoliticians from IrelandPeople from DublinAnglicans
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech in the House of Commons (6 May 1791), quoted in The Parliamentary History of England, From the Earliest Period to the Year 1803, Vol. XXIX (1817), column 387
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Edmund Burke
1729 – 1797
irischer Staatsmann und Philosoph
403 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Edmund Burke →
Related Quotes
"I have been told by an eminent bookseller, that in no branch of his business, after tracts of popular devotion, were …"
"Turn over a new leaf."
"With respect to us, Poland might be, in fact, considered as a country in the moon."
"I am sure, that the sentiments which it [Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs] contains are such, as tend to connect …"
"The present state of France was ten times worse than a tyranny. The new constitution was said to be an experiment but…"
"You talk of Paine with more respect than he deserves: He is utterly incapable of comprehending his subject. He has no…"
"He laid it down as a maxim, that monarchy was the basis of all good government and the nearer to monarchy any governm…"
"...what I look to with seriousness is the Phalanx of Party which exists in the body of the dissenters, who are, at th…"
"France had endeavoured under the specious pretext of an enlarged benevolence, to sow the seeds of enmity among nation…"
"The Leaders have ever since gone...to propagate the principles of French Levelling and confusion, by which no house i…"