A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
It was needless, after this, to say that all was vanity and vexation of spirit; for it is impossible to derive happiness from the company of those whom we deprive of happiness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness must involve bringing happiness to others; otherwise, it leads to emptiness.
This quote from Thomas Paine emphasizes the interconnectedness of happiness and the moral obligation to contribute positively to the happiness of others. It suggests that attempting to gain joy or fulfillment while causing distress to others is futile and ultimately leads to a sense of emptiness or 'vanity'.
Themes
HappinessVanitySpiritCompanyOthers
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about community service, one could illustrate how helping others leads to personal happiness using this quote.
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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