On the record
When we come to Thucydides, the results of discussion are as full as they have ever been; his light is pure, 'dry light,' free from the 'humours' of habit, and purged from consecrated usage.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “When we come to Thucydides, the results of discussion are as full as they have ever been; his light is pure, 'dry…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot praises Thucydides for his clarity and objectivity in discussing the outcomes of political discourse.
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More from Walter Bagehot
I cannot, therefore, join in the full cry against anomalies; in my judgment it may quickly overrun the scent, and so miss what we should be glad to find.
But it is natural also that persons used to analyse political institutions should look at these anomalies with a little tenderness and a little interest.
It is natural that those who by special and admirable culture have come to look at all things upon the artistic side, should start back from these queer peculiarities.
These anomalies, in a hundred instances, mark the old boundaries of a constitutional struggle.
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