Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine, that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

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More information about this quote

Topic

Political agitation

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Occupation

Philosopher Politician Writer

From

Ireland Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Edmund Burke about political agitation: “Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring…”
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A quote by Edmund Burke about political agitation: “Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring…”
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A quote by Edmund Burke about political agitation: “Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Edmund Burke

Every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.

On Conciliation with America

More information about this quote
Topic
Compromise
Speaker
Edmund Burke
Source
On Conciliation with America
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1775 1770s 18th century
Era
American Revolutionary Period
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Conciliation with America." House of Commons. 22 Mar. 1775, Palace of Westminster, Westminster, London, England, UK.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

Another quote from the 1790s

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

John Adams

Read this letter at the National Archives website
More information about this quote
Topic
Morality and politics Political theory American experiment

Author

John Adams
Source
Letters of John Adams
Medium
Letter
Language
English
Time
1798 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Adams, John. Letter to the Officers of the First Brigade of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts. 11 Oct. 1798.

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

I am ashes where once I was fire.

Lord Byron

More information about this quote
Topic
Aging Burnout Loss of passion Passion

Author

Lord Byron
Source
To the Countess of Blessington
Medium
Poem
Statement Type
Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1824 1820s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Lord Byron. "To the Countess of Blessington." Letters and Journals. London: J. Johnson, c. 1830.

Current Citation

Lord Byron. "To the Countess of Blessington." Byron: Poems. Everyman's Library, 1994.