Significant Dullness

JN Figgis ( Political Thought From Gerson to Grotius ) writes, “The normal value . . . of political theories is a ‘long period value.’ The immediate significance of an Algernon Sidney or an Althusius is small and less than nothing as compared with a practical politician, like Maurice or Jeffreys. But his enduring power is vast. Hildebrand, Calvin, Rousseau, were doctrinaires, if ever there were such. Yet neither Bismarck, nor even Napoleon, has had a more terrific strength to shape the destines of men. In literature as in life, the thinker may be dull; but it is with a significant dullness.”