Edmund Burke's reaction to Pitt's maiden speech in Parliament; the 'old block' was William Pitt the Elder, quoted in Nathaniel Wraxall, "Historical Memoirs of My Own Time", part 2

Not merely a chip of the old 'block', but the old block itself.

— Edmund Burke on William Pitt the Younger

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Not merely a chip of the old 'block', but the old block itself." in the context of "Edmund Burke's reaction to Pitt's maiden speech in Parliament; the 'old block' was William Pitt the Elder, quoted in Nathaniel Wraxall, "Historical Memoirs of My Own Time", part 2" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "William Pitt the Younger" (Quotes about Pitt, A–L) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Edmund Burke

About Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (12 January 1729 – 9 July 1797) was a British and Irish statesman and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party after moving to London in 1750.