--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To reason with governments, as they have…" description: "\"“To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expecte..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png" --- # To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages… ![“To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected.” quote by Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png) > ““To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected.”” [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Governments are entrenched and resistant; real reform must arise from the people themselves. **In simple terms:** People, not governments, drive change. Key Takeaway Empower grassroots action. Themes politics reform power Mood critical hopeful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - activism - community organizing - policy advocacy Key Concepts social contract civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - What can individuals do to influence policy? - How to balance order and reform? A Different Perspective Change can be slow and face backlash. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reform/) [Reforms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reforms/) ## Related quotes > [Marriage is an institution that existed before governments existed. It's something that reflects nature and reflects God and God's will for us. And both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/marriage-is-an-institution-that-existed-before-governments-existed-it/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [As recently as the 1970s, the idea that the point of life was to get rich and that governments existed to facilitate this would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/as-recently-as-the-1970s-the-idea-that-the-point-of-life-was-to-get-2/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [“in 2147 governments still existed, but they were mostly for show, like the royal family in Great Britain had been for several centuries. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tal-m-klein/in-2147-governments-still-existed-but-they-were-mostly-for-show-like/) [Tal M. Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tal-m-klein/) > [But where, says some, is the King of America? I'll tell you. Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-where-says-some-is-the-king-of-america-i-ll-tell-you-friend-he/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Mexico urgently needs a series of structural reforms that will detonate its true economic potential for once and generate more public welfare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-pena-nieto/mexico-urgently-needs-a-series-of-structural-reforms-that-will/) [Enrique Pena Nieto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-pena-nieto/) > [I promise, before God and my community, to seek reforms so that the powerful and corrupt are no longer above the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-thomas/i-promise-before-god-and-my-community-to-seek-reforms-so-that-the/) [Andrew Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-thomas/) > [The incentives are still rotten, and people are still paid to do things they shouldn't be doing. The reforms did not really address the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-incentives-are-still-rotten-and-people-are-still-paid-to-do/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [Slovakia's joining the OECD in 1999 is totally dependent on meeting economic reforms required such as transparency and legislation that permits fair and open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mica/slovakia-s-joining-the-oecd-in-1999-is-totally-dependent-on-meeting/) [John Mica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mica/) > [The main part of the Hyde bill is to withhold U.S. contributions to the regular assessed budget of the U.N. unless they make real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-stearns/the-main-part-of-the-hyde-bill-is-to-withhold-u-s-contributions-to/) [Cliff Stearns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cliff-stearns/) > [The task for Germany today is - through its own policies and its own structural reforms, its own investments - to support the EU…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmar-gabriel/the-task-for-germany-today-is-through-its-own-policies-and-its-own/) [Sigmar Gabriel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmar-gabriel/) > [“Achieving such deep and liquid markets requires large-scale financial sector reforms, with a complete replacement of the existing regulatory framework.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bibek-debroy/achieving-such-deep-and-liquid-markets-requires-large-scale-financial/) Bibek Debroy > [Since China embraced Deng Xiaoping's reforms on 22 December 1978, China has experimented with different exchange-rate regimes. Until 1994, the yuan was in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hanke/since-china-embraced-deng-xiaoping-s-reforms-on-22-december-1978/) [Steve Hanke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hanke/) > [It is also right that we continue to consult with front line workers and the public to ensure that targets are reasonable and achievable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hutton/it-is-also-right-that-we-continue-to-consult-with-front-line-workers/) [John Hutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hutton/) > [Educational reforms are like ripe fruit. They rarely travel well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-hargreaves/educational-reforms-are-like-ripe-fruit-they-rarely-travel-well/) [Andy Hargreaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-hargreaves/) > [Expect the rapidly expanding homeschooling movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary reforms needed to build a free society with Constitutional protections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/expect-the-rapidly-expanding-homeschooling-movement-to-play-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) ## 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/) [Explore all 772 Thomas Paine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Paine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have-existed-for-ages-is-to-argue/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have-existed-for-ages-is-to-argue/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/thomas-paine-267_age_to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have_2651713.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the…” — Thomas Paine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Paine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“To reason with governments, as they...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have-existed-for-ages-is-to-argue/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/to-reason-with-governments-as-they-have-existed-for-ages-is-to-argue/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```