"I take Socialism in its strict meaning to be for the State to do that which is usually done by private people for the sake of gain. I believe that that is sometimes a very unwise thing; on the other hand, it is sometimes a very wise thing. There is nothing so Socialistic as the Mint or the Post Office. No doubt my noble Friend is right in saying that at the present day there is a strong leaning towards bringing in the interference of the State on every possible occasion, and I think that is a tendency against which it is right that we should be upon our guard. It is not that we sin against any principle, but that we expect from the State what it cannot possibly do if we impose upon it tasks which it cannot fitly perform or burdens beyond its power; all we shall do will be to create an indefinite source of expense, and ultimately an unlimited cause of corruption and inefficiency."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandAnglicans from the United KingdomUniversity of Oxford facultyConservative Party (UK) politicians
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Speech in the House of Lords (19 May 1890)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Gascoyne-Cecil%2C_3rd_Marquess_of_Salisbury
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (3 February 1830 – 22 August 1903), styled Lord Robert Cecil before the death of his elder brother in 1865, and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until his father died in April 1868, was a three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, during 1885–1886, 1886–1892 and 1895–1902.
223 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury →
Related Quotes
"On reflection, I am convinced that turbulence as well as every other evil temper of this evil age belongs not to the …"
"In an age when national greatness depends not on numbers or on territory, but on intelligence, the development of int…"
"The fact was, that articles of prime necessity, such as tea and sugar, were adulterated to such an extent as material…"
"A gram of experience is worth a ton of theory."
"Now if Conservative has any meaning at all, it means anti-Radical. The Radicals are the only inheritors of the revolu…"
"[T]he splitting up of mankind into a multitude of infinitesimal governments, in accordance with their actual differen…"
"[T]hough it is England's right to enforce the law of Europe [i.e. treaties] as between contending states, she has no …"
"Not the number of noses, but the magnitude of interests, should furnish the elements by which the proportion of repre…"
"The days and weeks of screwed-up smiles and laboured courtesy, the mock geniality, the hearty shake of the filthy han…"
"We are not the same people that we have been, either in our social characteristics, in our patriotic sentiments, or i…"