Walter Bagehot Quotes

A collection of quotes by Walter Bagehot.

Walter Bagehot was a prominent British journalist, economist, and political analyst, born in 1826. He is best known for his contributions to political theory, particularly his analysis of the British constitution. Bagehot served as the editor-in-chief of The Economist magazine for over 15 years, during which he shaped the publication's influential editorial stance. His notable works include "Lombard Street" and "The English Constitution," which have had a lasting impact on discussions surrounding finance, politics, and governance. Bagehot's insightful observations and writings continue to be studied and cherished in the fields of economics and political science.

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you c

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.

Walter Bagehot


So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary de

So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism - despotism during the campaign - is indispensable.

Walter Bagehot


Life is a school of probability

Life is a school of probability

Walter Bagehot

Life

No real English gentleman, in his secret soul, was ever sorr

No real English gentleman, in his secret soul, was ever sorry for the death of a political economist.

Walter Bagehot

Death

The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt it casts a

The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.

Walter Bagehot

History

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a n

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.

Walter Bagehot

Innovation

The most intellectual of men are moved quite as much by the

The most intellectual of men are moved quite as much by the circumstances which they are used to as by their own will. The active voluntary part of a man is very small, and if it were not economized by a sleepy kind of habit, its results would be null.

Walter Bagehot

Freedom

The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and

The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.

Walter Bagehot

Society

It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; b

It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations.

Walter Bagehot

Government

An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: g

An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.

Walter Bagehot

Exaggeration

So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary de

So long as war is the main business of nations, temporary despotism -- despotism during the campaign -- is indispensable.

Walter Bagehot

Tyranny

An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle

An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.

Walter Bagehot

Diplomacy

Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a

Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one - in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indication of its success.

Walter Bagehot

Success

Writers like teeth are divided into incisors and grinders.

Writers like teeth are divided into incisors and grinders.

Walter Bagehot

Authors & Writing

Conquest is the missionary of valor, and the hard impact of

Conquest is the missionary of valor, and the hard impact of military virtues beats meanness out of the world.

Walter Bagehot

War

War both needs and generates certain virtues; not the highes

War both needs and generates certain virtues; not the highest, but what may be called the preliminary virtues, as valor, veracity, the spirit of obedience, the habit of discipline. Any of these, and of others like them, when possessed by a nation, and no matter how generated, will give them a military advantage, and make them more likely to stay in the race of nations.

Walter Bagehot

War

A bureaucracy is sure to think that its duty is to augment o

A bureaucracy is sure to think that its duty is to augment official power, official business, or official members, rather than to leave free the energies of mankind; it overdoes the quantity of government, as well as impairs its quality. The truth is, that a skilled bureaucracy is, though it boasts of an appearance of science, quite inconsistent with the true principles of the art of business.

Walter Bagehot

Bureaucracy

An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous fa

An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind.

Walter Bagehot

Silence

History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gain

History is strewn with the wrecks of nations which have gained a little progressiveness at the cost of a great deal of hard manliness, and have thus prepared themselves for destruction as soon as the movements of the world gave a chance for it.

Walter Bagehot

Ideology

A princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal

A princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal fact, and, as such, it rivets mankind.

Walter Bagehot

Marriage