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BURGE [_continuing remorselessly_] Come down to facts. It wasn't principle that won the war: it was the British fleet and the blockade. America found the talk: I found the shells. You cannot win wars by principles; but you _can_ win elections by them. There I am with you. You want the next election to be fought on principles: that is what it comes to, doesnt it?
FRANKLYN. I dont want it to be fought at all! An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.   You know very well that it will not be fought on principle.
BURGE. On the contrary it will be fought on nothing else. I believe a program is a mistake. I agree with you that principle is what we want.
FRANKLYN. Principle without program, eh?
BURGE. Exactly. There it is in three words.
FRANKLYN. Why not in one word? Platitudes. That is what principle without program means.
BURGE [_puzzled but patient, trying to get at Franklyn's drift in order to ascertain his price_] I have...   Shaw, George Bernard

Excerpt from Back to Methuselah · This quote is tagged Elections · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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