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Quote#Success & Failure

The characteristic danger of great nations like the Romans or the…

Quote byWalter Bagehot · 1826–1877

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: "Lord Althorpe and the Great Reform Act of 1832" (1876) in Works, vol. 3 (Hartford, 1889) p. 310.

English (original)

The characteristic danger of great nations like the Romans or the English, which have a long history of continuous creation, is, that they may at last fail from not comprehending the great institutions which they have created.

— Walter Bagehot

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