---
title: "88 Government Quotes By Thomas Paine"
description: "A collection of government quotes by Thomas Paine."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/thomas-paine-267_anarchism_government-is-best-which-governs-least-1_1829348.png"
---

> [Government is best which governs least](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-is-best-which-governs-least/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9dd/thomas-paine-267_anarchism_government-is-best-which-governs-least-1_1829348.png)

> [The guilt of a government is the crime of a whole country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-guilt-of-a-government-is-the-crime-of-a-whole-country/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a99/thomas-paine-267_country_the-guilt-of-a-government-is-the-crime-o_376537.png)

> [Government is a necessary evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-is-a-necessary-evil/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/42b/thomas-paine-267_evil_government-is-a-necessary-evil-1335291_1335291.png)

> [Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-like-dress-is-the-badge-of-lost-innocence/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cc7/thomas-paine-267_badges_government-like-dress-is-the-badge-of-lo_1069409.png)

> [A government of our own is our natural right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/a-government-of-our-own-is-our-natural-right/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/603/thomas-paine-267_government_a-government-of-our-own-is-our-natural-r_2634177.png)

> [Government without a constitution, is a power without a right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-without-a-constitution-is-a-power-without-a-right/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/thomas-paine-267_constitution_government-without-a-constitution-is-a-p_2003138.png)

> [Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/society-is-produced-by-our-wants-and-government-by-our-wickedness/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a12/thomas-paine-267_4th-of-july_society-is-produced-by-our-wants-and-gov_619028.png)

> [The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-trade-of-governing-has-always-been-monopolized-by-the-most/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/795/thomas-paine-267_governing_the-trade-of-governing-has-always-been-m_507208.png)

> [The more acquisitions the government makes abroad, the more taxes the people have to pay at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-more-acquisitions-the-government-makes-abroad-the-more-taxes-the/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ff/thomas-paine-267_acquisition_the-more-acquisitions-the-government-mak_243466.png)

> [Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-even-in-its-best-state-is-but-a-necessary-evil-in-its/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e1a/thomas-paine-267_evil_government-even-in-its-best-state-is-but_367454.png)

> [Beware the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/beware-the-greedy-hand-of-government-thrusting-itself-into-every/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5db/thomas-paine-267_beware_beware-the-greedy-hand-of-government-thr_2743219.png)

> [From such beginnings of governments, what could be expected, but a continual system of war and extortion?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/from-such-beginnings-of-governments-what-could-be-expected-but-a/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f39/thomas-paine-267_expected_from-such-beginnings-of-governments-what_1709131.jpg)

> [Government," says Swift, "is a plain thing, and fitted to the capacity of many heads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-says-swift-is-a-plain-thing-and-fitted-to-the-capacity-of/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/501/thomas-paine-267_capacity_government-says-swift-is-a-plain-thing-a_1808825.png)

> [Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/government-like-dress-is-the-badge-of-lost-innocence-the-palaces-of/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/158/thomas-paine-267_badges_government-like-dress-is-the-badge-of-lo_2089230.png)

> [As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensable duty of all government to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/as-to-religion-i-hold-it-to-be-the-indispensable-duty-of-all/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d6/thomas-paine-267_church_as-to-religion-i-hold-it-to-be-the-indis_1536644.png)

> [The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-grecians-and-romans-were-strongly-possessed-of-the-spirit-of/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b15/thomas-paine-267_be-a-slave_the-grecians-and-romans-were-strongly-po_326306.png)

> [The end of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-end-of-all-political-associations-is-the-preservation-of-the/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/thomas-paine-267_association_the-end-of-all-political-associations-is_2320257.jpg)

> [What is called a republic, is not any particular form of government ... it is naturally opposed to the word monarchy, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-is-called-a-republic-is-not-any-particular-form-of-government-it/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/987/thomas-paine-267_arbitrary_what-is-called-a-republic-is-not-any-par_1828808.png)

> [The representative system of government is calculated to produce the wisest laws, by collecting wisdom where it can be found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-representative-system-of-government-is-calculated-to-produce-the/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70c/thomas-paine-267_collecting_the-representative-system-of-government_2244438.png)

> [A Constitution is not the act of a Government, but of a people constituting a government, and a government without a constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/a-constitution-is-not-the-act-of-a-government-but-of-a-people/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb6/thomas-paine-267_constitution_a-constitution-is-not-the-act-of-a-gover_899709.png)

> [“security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/security-being-the-true-design-and-end-of-government-it-unanswerably/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4b/thomas-paine-267_benefits_security-being-the-true-design-and-end-o_563536.jpg)

> [The circumstances of the world are continually changing, and the opinions of men change also; and as government is for the living,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-circumstances-of-the-world-are-continually-changing-and-the-2/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/847/thomas-paine-267_age_the-circumstances-of-the-world-are-conti_258718.png)

> [They took care to represent government as a thing made up of mysteries, which only themselves understood, and they hid from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/they-took-care-to-represent-government-as-a-thing-made-up-of/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b6/thomas-paine-267_acting_they-took-care-to-represent-government-a_2994333.png)

> [Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/reason-and-ignorance-the-opposites-of-each-other-influence-the-great-2/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8e/thomas-paine-267_country_reason-and-ignorance-the-opposites-of-ea_2009977.jpg)

> [The essential psychological requirement of a free society is the willingness on the part of the individual to accept responsibility for his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-essential-psychological-requirement-of-a-free-society-is-the/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a3/thomas-paine-267_accepting_the-essential-psychological-requirement_1535726.png)

> [It is not because a part of the government is elective, that makes it less a despotism, if the persons so elected,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-is-not-because-a-part-of-the-government-is-elective-that-makes-it/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a23/thomas-paine-267_candidates_it-is-not-because-a-part-of-the-governme_272327.png)

> [It is for the good of nations, and not for the emolument or aggrandizement of particular individuals, that government ought to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-is-for-the-good-of-nations-and-not-for-the-emolument-or/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d91/thomas-paine-267_constitution_it-is-for-the-good-of-nations-and-not-fo_3222131.jpg)

> [A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government; and government without a constitution is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/a-constitution-is-not-the-act-of-a-government-but-of-a-people-2/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/311/thomas-paine-267_constitution_a-constitution-is-not-the-act-of-a-gover_2365329.png)

> [When it shall be said in any country in the world my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/when-it-shall-be-said-in-any-country-in-the-world-my-poor-are-happy/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/thomas-paine-267_beggar_when-it-shall-be-said-in-any-country-in_450507.jpg)

> [“There is an unnatural unfitness in an aristocracy to be legislators for a nation. Their ideas of distributive justice are corrupted at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/there-is-an-unnatural-unfitness-in-an-aristocracy-to-be-legislators/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aaa/thomas-paine-267_aristocracy_there-is-an-unnatural-unfitness-in-an-ar_3065772.jpg)

> [I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/i-have-as-little-superstition-in-me-as-any-man-living-but-my-secret/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2a/thomas-paine-267_almighty_i-have-as-little-superstition-in-me-as-a_1089972.jpg)

> [It appears to general observation, that revolutions create genius and talents; but those events do no more than bring them forward. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-appears-to-general-observation-that-revolutions-create-genius-and/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/559/thomas-paine-267_action_it-appears-to-general-observation-that-r_546567.jpg)

> [“When it can be said by any country in the world, my poor are happy, neither ignorance nor distress is to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/when-it-can-be-said-by-any-country-in-the-world-my-poor-are-happy/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f15/thomas-paine-267_boast_when-it-can-be-said-by-any-country-in-th_2349057.jpg)

> [If men will permit themselves to think, as rational beings ought to think, nothing can appear more ridiculous and absurd, exclusive of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/if-men-will-permit-themselves-to-think-as-rational-beings-ought-to/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6aa/thomas-paine-267_absurd_if-men-will-permit-themselves-to-think-a_727659.jpg)

> [As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/as-parents-we-can-have-no-joy-knowing-that-this-government-is-not/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/thomas-paine-267_argument_as-parents-we-can-have-no-joy-knowing-th_1882835.png)

> [“Nothing can appear more contradictory than the principles on which the old governments began, and the condition to which society, civilisation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/nothing-can-appear-more-contradictory-than-the-principles-on-which/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a57/thomas-paine-267_business_nothing-can-appear-more-contradictory-th_2267605.png)

> [The first was a government of priestcraft, the second of conquerors, and the third of reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-first-was-a-government-of-priestcraft-the-second-of-conquerors/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b89/thomas-paine-267_conqueror_the-first-was-a-government-of-priestcraf_829879.png)

> [Wisdom degenerates in governments as governments increase in age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/wisdom-degenerates-in-governments-as-governments-increase-in-age/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dcf/thomas-paine-267_age_wisdom-degenerates-in-governments-as-gov_2797375.png)

> [“A hereditary monarch is as absurd a position as a hereditary doctor or mathematician.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/a-hereditary-monarch-is-as-absurd-a-position-as-a-hereditary-doctor/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8eb/thomas-paine-267_absurd_a-hereditary-monarch-is-as-absurd-a-posi_1049818.png)

> [War is the gambling table of governments, and citizens the dupes of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/war-is-the-gambling-table-of-governments-and-citizens-the-dupes-of/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d22/thomas-paine-267_anti-war_war-is-the-gambling-table-of-governments_1244987.png)

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## More by Thomas Paine

> [“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/no-man-is-prejudiced-in-favour-of-a-thing-knowing-it-to-be-wrong-he/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [“The laws of every country must be analogous to some common principle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-laws-of-every-country-must-be-analogous-to-some-common-principle/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [The book called the Bible has been voted by men, and decreed by human laws to be the word of God; and the disbelief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-book-called-the-bible-has-been-voted-by-men-and-decreed-by-human/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-argue-with-a-person-who-has-renounced-the-use-of-reason-is-like/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/one-would-think-that-a-system-loaded-with-such-gross-and-vulgar/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [Commerce diminishes the spirit, both of patriotism and military defence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/commerce-diminishes-the-spirit-both-of-patriotism-and-military-defence/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [What is it the Bible teaches us? - raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? - to believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-is-it-the-bible-teaches-us-raping-cruelty-and-murder-what-is-it/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/those-who-expect-to-reap-the-blessings-of-freedom-must-like-men/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [“It has been the practice of all Christian commentators on the Bible, and of all Christian priests and preachers, to impose the Bible on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/it-has-been-the-practice-of-all-christian-commentators-on-the-bible/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [Wisdom is not the purchase of a day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/wisdom-is-not-the-purchase-of-a-day/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/our-citizenship-in-the-united-states-is-our-national-character-our/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/suspicion-is-the-companion-of-mean-souls-and-the-bane-of-all-good/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [“To pass from the extremes of danger to safety-from the tumult of war to the tranquility of peace, though sweet in contemplation, requires a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-pass-from-the-extremes-of-danger-to-safety-from-the-tumult-of-war/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [What more does man want to know than that the hand or power that made these things is divine, is omnipotent? Let him believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/what-more-does-man-want-to-know-than-that-the-hand-or-power-that-made/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

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                        "text": "It is for the good of nations, and not for the emolument or aggrandizement of particular individuals, that government ought to be established, and that mankind are at the expense of supporting it. The defects of every government and constitution both as to principle and form, must, on a parity of reasoning, be as open to discussion as the defects of a law, and it is a duty which every man owes to society to point them out.",
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                        "text": "When it shall be said in any country in the world my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want; the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, there may that country boast its Constitution and its Government",
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                        "text": "“There is an unnatural unfitness in an aristocracy to be legislators for a nation. Their ideas of distributive justice are corrupted at the very source. They begin life trampling on all their younger brothers and sisters, and relations of every kind, and are taught and educated so to do. With what ideas of justice or honor can that man enter a house of legislation, who absorbs in his own person the inheritance of a whole family of children, or metes out some pitiful portion with the insolence of a gift?”",
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                        "text": "I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils.",
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                        "text": "It appears to general observation, that revolutions create genius and talents; but those events do no more than bring them forward. There is existing in man, a mass of sense lying in a dormant state, and which, unless something excites it to action, will descend with him, in that condition, to the grave. As it is to the advantage of society that the whole of its faculties should be employed, the construction of government ought to be such as to bring forward, by a quiet and regular operation, all that extent of capacity which never fails to appear in revolutions.",
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                        "text": "“When it can be said by any country in the world, my poor are happy, neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them, my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars, the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive, the rational world is my friend because I am the friend of happiness. When these things can be said, then may that country boast its constitution and government. Independence is my happiness, the world is my country and my religion is to do good .”",
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                        "text": "If men will permit themselves to think, as rational beings ought to think, nothing can appear more ridiculous and absurd, exclusive of all moral reflections, than to be at the expence of building navies, filling them with men, and then hauling them into the ocean, to try which can sink each other fastester. Peace, which costs nothing, is attended with infintely more advantage than any victory with all its expence. But this, though it best answers the purpose of Nations, does not that of Court Governments, whose habited policy is pretence for taxation, places, and offices.",
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                        "text": "As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity: And by a plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will present a prospect, which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from our sight.",
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                        "text": "“Nothing can appear more contradictory than the principles on which the old governments began, and the condition to which society, civilisation and commerce are capable of carrying mankind. Government, one the old system, is an assumption of power, for the aggrandisement of itself; on the new, a delegation of power for the common benefit of society. The former supports itself by keeping up a system of war; the later promotes a system of peace, as the true means of enriching a nation. The one encourages national prejudices; the other promotes universal society, as the means of universal commerce. The one measures its prosperity, by the quantity of revenue it extorts; the other proves its excellence, by the small quantity of taxes it requires.”",
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