A disposition to preserve, ...

A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.
A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.

Quotes from the same author

But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint.
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.
But the age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished forever.
Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.