Edmund Burke, Two Letters Addressed to a Member of the Present Parliament, on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France (1796), quoted in Burke: Select Works. Four Letters on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, ed. E. J. Payne (1892), p. 7

Out of the tomb of the murdered Monarchy in France, has arisen a vast, tremendous, unformed spectre, in a far more terrific guise than any which ever yet have overpowered the imagination and subdued the fortitude of man.

— Edmund Burke on French Revolution

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Out of the tomb of the murdered Monarchy in France, has arisen a vast, tremendous, unformed spectre, in a far more terrific guise than any which ever yet have overpowered the imagination and subdued the fortitude of man." in the context of "Edmund Burke, Two Letters Addressed to a Member of the Present Parliament, on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France (1796), quoted in Burke: Select Works. Four Letters on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, ed. E. J. Payne (1892), p. 7" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "French Revolution" (Quotes: Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author, A - F) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Edmund Burke

About Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (12 January 1729 – 9 July 1797) was a British and Irish statesman and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party after moving to London in 1750.