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Quote#Politics & Power

A whale is not a fish in natural history, but it is a fish in…

Quote byWilliam Whewell · 1794–1866

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: LXXXIV.

English (original)

A whale is not a fish in natural history, but it is a fish in commerce and law. A plea that human laws which mention fish do not apply to whales, would be rejected at once by an intelligent judge.

— William Whewell

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