by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In every state, not wholly barbarous, a philosophy, good or bad, there must be. However slightingly it may be the fashion to talk of speculation and theory, as opposed (sillily and non-sensically opposed) to practice, it would not be difficult to prove, that such as is the existing spirit of speculation, during any given period, such will be the spirit and tone of the religion, legislation, and morals, nay, even of the fine arts, the manners, and the fashions. Nor is this the less true, because the great majority of men live like bats, but in twilight, and know and feel the philosophy of their age only by its reflections and refractions.—Essays on His Own Times
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I love the way these guys wrote. I wonder if they talked that way?
But, your'e right Sam, we must have principles to live by, no matter what the prevailing wind blows in.
Dear WC: our historians may answer this better than I, but I gather that (say) Burke's speeches were delivered in Parliament from few notes and then taken from Hansard (like the later US Congressional Record), re-edited and published. I take this to mean that they did, or could, speak this way. It makes our modern 'orators' look rather pathetic, yes?