Letter to French Laurence (12 May 1797) after hearing of the mutinies in the Royal Navy, quoted in R. B. McDowell (ed.), The Correspondence of Edmund Burke, Volume IX: May 1796–July 1797 (1970), p. 333

I should not be surprized at seeing a French Army conveyed by a British Navy to an attack upon this Kingdom.

— Edmund Burke

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I should not be surprized at seeing a French Army conveyed by a British Navy to an attack upon this Kingdom." in the context of "Letter to French Laurence (12 May 1797) after hearing of the mutinies in the Royal Navy, quoted in R. B. McDowell (ed.), The Correspondence of Edmund Burke, Volume IX: May 1796–July 1797 (1970), p. 333" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Edmund Burke" (Quotes, 1790s) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Edmund Burke

About Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (12 January 1729 – 9 July 1797) was a British and Irish statesman and philosopher. Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the Whig Party after moving to London in 1750.