A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
The danger to which the success of revolutions is most exposed, is that of attempting them before the principles on which they proceed, and the advantages to result from them, are sufficiently seen and understood.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Revolutions can fail if their underlying principles and benefits are not fully understood by the people involved.
Thomas Paine underscores the idea that successful revolutions rely on the clarity of their guiding principles and the recognition of the advantages they promise. Without this understanding, the movement may falter or become misdirected, as those involved may not be fully aware of the implications and motivations behind their actions.
Themes
RevolutionSuccessPrinciplesUnderstandingDanger
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social change, one could reference this quote to highlight the importance of educating the public before implementing drastic measures.
More from Thomas Paine
All quotes →That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not.
Thomas PaineRead
I consider the war of America against Britain as the country's war, the public's war, or the war of the people in their own behalf, for the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their own property.
Thomas PaineRead
Had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon, in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twenty-four hours, and all nations would have believed it; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know anything of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it.
Thomas PaineRead
The end of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression.
Thomas PaineRead
To reason with goverments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected
Thomas PaineRead
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