Friday Sunset | Christy Hardin Smith

Today’s quote comes from Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man:

Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of Government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it….

When men are spoken of as kings and subjects, or when Government is mentioned under the distinct and combined heads of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, what is it that reasoning man is to understand by the terms? If there really existed in the world two or more distinct and separate elements of human power, we should then see the several origins to which those terms would descriptively apply; but as there is but one species of man, there can be but one element of human power; and that element is man himself. Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, are but creatures of imagination; and a thousand such may be contrived as well as three.

What say you?

Spokane61 | Friday May 22, 2009 04:10 pm 1

Another quote. “What profit it a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul”. It has been a hard week for lovers of American Justice.

perris | Friday May 22, 2009 05:14 pm 2

thomas paine, my top two founders, a toss between he and thomas jefferson

paine was as progressive a man as I have ever read, responsible (with jefferson) for proposing a progressive tax and indeed, the estate tax

“common sense” tells that I loves me some thomas paine

perris | Friday May 22, 2009 05:16 pm 3

In response to perris @ 2

…Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly…

we need a man like mister paine right about now

perris | Saturday May 23, 2009 04:31 am 4

christie, I searched and found a page of thomas paine quotes, definately a keeper

for instance, the among the very first few, talk about precience, they name is paine;

long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas Paine

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Thomas Paine

perris | Saturday May 23, 2009 04:32 am 5

I wish you could ask the web masters to fix your edit button, everyone else has one, no reason they can’t get yours to work too

anyway, could you add the “A” to the first quote for me, the quote is not nearly as powerful without it, I would appreciate it