A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
We still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry and grasping at the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretenses for revenue and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without a tribute.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote criticizes government overreach and the burden of taxation on society.
Thomas Paine's quote highlights the invasive nature of government interference in industry and the relentless pursuit of revenue through taxation. He argues that the government views the prosperity of the people as an opportunity to extract resources, indicating a system that exploits the population rather than serving it. This perspective invites reflection on the balance between government roles and individual freedoms.
Themes
GovernmentTaxationIndustryProsperityFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on taxation policies, you might quote Paine to advocate for lower taxes.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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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