All persons possessing any portion of power ought to be strongly and awfully impressed with an idea that they act in trust, and that they are to account for their conduct in that trust to the one great Master, Author, and Founder of society.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People in power must know they hold it in trust. They are accountable to a higher authority.
- In plain terms
- Leaders should know power is a trust they must answer for.
- What can you take from it?
- Lead with accountability to a higher standard.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who holds leaders accountable?
- Is power ever absolute?
Another view
Not all leaders believe in a higher authority.
More from Edmund Burke
A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
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Permalink to quote #114 A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it, but a good patriot and a true politician always consid…
Permalink to quote #111
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