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Quote#God & Faith

But how is the spirit of expenditure to be exorcised? Not by…

Quote byWilliam Ewart Gladstone · 1809–1898

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Richard Cobden (5 January 1864), quoted in The Life of William Ewart Gladstone Volume II (1903) by John Morley, p. 62.

English (original)

But how is the spirit of expenditure to be exorcised? Not by preaching; I doubt if even by yours. I seriously doubt whether it will ever give place to the old spirit of economy, as long as we have the income-tax. There, or hard by, lie questions of deep practical moment.

— William Ewart Gladstone

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