Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright (5 June 1824), quoted in Thomas Jefferson, Writings, ed. Merrill D. Peterson (1984), p. 1491
“

It has ever appeared to me, that the difference between the whig and the tory of England is, that the whig deduces his rights from the Anglo-Saxon source, and the tory from the Norman. And Hume, the great apostle of toryism, says, in so many words, note AA to chapter 42, that, in the reign of the Stuarts, “it was the people who encroached upon the sovereign, not the sovereign who attempted, as is pretended, to usurp upon the people.” This supposes the Norman usurpations to be rights in his successors. And again, C, 159, “the commons established a principle, which is noble in itself, and seems specious, but is belied by all history and experience, that the people are the origin of all just power.” And where else will this degenerate son of science, this traitor to his fellow men, find the origin of just powers, if not in the majority of the society? Will it be in the minority? Or in an individual of that minority?

— Thomas Jefferson

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It has ever appeared to me, that the difference between the whig and the tory of England is, that the whig deduces his rights from the Anglo-Saxon source, and the tory from the Norman. And Hume, the great apostle of toryism, says, in so many words, note AA to chapter 42, that, in the reign of the Stuarts, “it was the people who encroached upon the sovereign, not the sovereign who attempted, as is pretended, to usurp upon the people.” This supposes the Norman usurpations to be rights in his successors. And again, C, 159, “the commons established a principle, which is noble in itself, and seems specious, but is belied by all history and experience, that the people are the origin of all just power.” And where else will this degenerate son of science, this traitor to his fellow men, find the origin of just powers, if not in the majority of the society? Will it be in the minority? Or in an individual of that minority?" in the context of "Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright (5 June 1824), quoted in Thomas Jefferson, Writings, ed. Merrill D. Peterson (1984), p. 1491" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "David Hume" (Quotes about David Hume: Organized alphabetically by author.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
David Hume

About David Hume

David Hume (7 May 1711, N.S. April 26, O.S. – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist.