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Quote by Thomas Paine

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Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution

Written by Thomas Paine, this work is a comprehensive defense of the rights of man and the ideals of the French Revolution, offering a direct response to Edmund Burke's critique of the revolution. Paine argues for the natural rights of individuals and the necessity of a government based on the will of the people. more

Author

Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine, born on February 9, 1737, and died on June 8, 1809, was a prominent American writer, political figure, and philosopher during the American Revolutionary War. He is renowned for his radical democratic ideas and his contributions to the American independence movement. more

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“Government is not a trade which any man or body of men has a right to set up and exercise for his own emolument, but is altogether a trust, in right of those by whom that trust is delegated, and by whom it is always resumable. It has of itself no rights; they are altogether duties.”

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Book:Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution
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“Government has no right to make itself a party in any debates respecting the principles or mode of forming or of changing, constitutions. It is not for the benefit of those who exercise the powers of government, that constitutions, and the governments issuing from them, are established.”

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Book:Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution
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“It is not because a part of the government is elective, that makes it less a despotism, if the persons so elected, possess afterwards, as a parliament, unlimited powers. Election, in this case, becomes separated from representation, and the candidates are candidates for despotism.”

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Book:The Political Writings of Thomas Paine: Secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs in the American Revolution : to which is Prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Author's Life
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“As my object was not myself, I set out with the determination, and happily with the disposition, of not being moved by praise or censure, friendship or calumny, nor of being drawn from my purpose by any personal altercation; and the man who cannot do this, is not fit for a public character.”

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Book:THE RIGHTS OF MAN: The French Revolution – Ideals, Arguments & Motives (Political Classic): Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attack on the French Revolution
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“It is unnatural that a pure stream should flow from a foul fountain its vices are but a continuation of the vices of its origin. A man of moral honor and good political principles, cannot submit to the mean drudgery and disgraceful arts, by which such elections are carried. To be a successful candidate, he must be destitute of the qualities that constitute a just legislator: and being thus disciplined to corruption it is not to be expected that the representative should be better than the man.”

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Author:Thomas Paine
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