“A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.”

— Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, 1790

About Edmund Burke

1729 – 1797

Irish statesman and political philosopher, author of "Reflections on the Revolution in France".

“Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.”

“Our patience will achieve more than our force.”

“Power gradually extirpates from the mind every humane and gentle virtue.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“A whole is that which has beginning, middle, and end.”

“Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation.”

“All becoming and growing—all that guarantees a future—involves pain.”

“The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.”

“Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning.”