A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Political associations exist to protect fundamental human rights, including liberty and property.
In this quote, Thomas Paine emphasizes that the primary purpose of any political organization or government should be to safeguard the inherent rights of individuals. He identifies these rights as key elements of human existence that must be preserved against any form of injustice or oppression, underlining the importance of personal freedom and security in society.
Themes
PoliticalRightsLibertyOppressionSecurity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about human rights, one might quote Thomas Paine to emphasize the importance of protecting personal freedoms.
More from Thomas Paine
All quotes βThat 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
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
Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
Thomas PaineRead
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If nations perish, it is not because of their devotion to liberty, but for their disregard of its requirements.
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Nothing can tend so much to humble us before the mercy and justice of God as the consideration of His benefits and our own sins. Let us, then, consider what He has done for us, and what we have done against Him; let us call to mind our sins in detail, and His gracious benefits in like manner, remembering that whatever there is of good in us is not ours, but His, and then we need not be afraid of vainglory or of taking complacency in ourselves.
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Sometimes I think it is a great mistake to have matter that can think and feel. It complains so. By the same token, though, I suppose that boulders and mountains and moons could be accused of being a little too phlegmatic.
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I am in fact, a hobbit in all but size
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