Quote#Wisdom
I never can admit that it can be wise to give way to the unjust…
Quote byHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston · 1784–1865
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Viscount Granville (2 April 1831), quoted in Henry Lytton Bulwer, The Life of Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, with Selections from His Diaries and Correspondence, Volume II (1870), pp. 74-75.
English (original)
I never can admit that it can be wise to give way to the unjust pretensions of France for the purpose of gaining for the French government...the support of the violent party, or even of the moderate encroachers. Depend upon it, no good is gained by such concessions; you only whet the appetite instead of satisfying it. We should betray our own weakness and encourage fresh demands.
— Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
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