Quote#Politics & Power
I said I knew a very wise man so much of Sir Christopher's sentiment,…
Quote byAndrew Fletcher · 1655–1716
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: An ACCOUNT of A CONVERSATION concerning A RIGHT REGULATION of GOVERNMENTS For the common Good of Mankind: In A LETTER to the Marquiss of Montrose , the Earls of Rothes, Roxburg and Haddington , From London the first of December, 1703'. Later variants express the sentiment in the first person, e.g.:.
English (original)
I said I knew a very wise man so much of Sir Christopher's sentiment, that he believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads he need not care who should make the laws of a nation, and we find that most of the ancient legislators thought that they could not well reform the manners of any city without the help of a lyric, and sometimes of a dramatic poet.
— Andrew Fletcher
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