QuotesCosmos
John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel (1681), Part I, line 779.
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For who can be secure of private right, If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might? Nor is the people's judgment always true: The most may err as grossly as the few.

— John Dryden on The public

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "For who can be secure of private right, If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might? Nor is the people's judgment always true: The most may err as grossly as the few." in the context of "John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel (1681), Part I, line 779." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "The public" (Quotes, Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations: Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 647-49.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#John Dryden#may#sovereign#dissolved#judgment#private#peoples#grossly#secure#always#right#might
John Dryden

About John Dryden

John Dryden (19 August O.S. 9 August 1631 – 12 May O.S. 1 May 1700) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate.