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Quotation from The Commonwealth of Oceana by James Harrington
“Which is as if a man should tell famous Harvey that he transcribed his circulation of the blood, not out of the principles of nature, but out of the anatomy of this or that body.”
The Commonwealth of Oceana, Part I, The Preliminaries (Morley's Universal Library edition (1887), Project Gutenberg text)
Harrington answers Hobbes's charge that the ancients merely copied their own governments, comparing political principles to William Harvey's discovery.
Citation: "Which is as if a man should tell famous Harvey that he transcribed his circulation of the blood, not out of the principles of nature, but out of the anatomy of this or that body." — James Harrington, The Commonwealth of Oceana, Part I, The Preliminaries (Morley's Universal Library edition (1887), Project Gutenberg text). (id harrington-oceana-q8)
Portrait: James Harrington (jha), Unknown artist, Public domain.
