From My Notebook no. 21

Henry Thomas Buckle, 1867. ‘History of Civilisation in England’. Longman’s Green.

‘Wealth Of Nations in Parliament’, 1783, p 214.

“No great truth which has once been found has ever afterwards been lost; nor have any important discoveries yet been made which has not eventually carried everything before it”.

Comment

But if an earlier “great truth” did lay undiscovered or accidently destroyed in fire, say, there is no way Buckle’s assertion can show it was discovered earlier.

I copied this down when reading Buckle and forgot about it until this afternoon when looking among my notes for something else, as you do.