The representative system takes society and civilisation for its basis; nature, reason, and experience, for its guide.
Thomas Paine: “The representative system takes society and civilisation for its basis; nature, reason, and experience, for its guide.”
Editor's note · Context
Paine defines the representative system of government in "Rights of Man" as one grounded in societal principles and guided by fundamental human faculties and historical lessons.
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But as religion is very improperly made a political machine, and the reality of it is thereby destroyed, I will conclude this work with stating in what light religion appears to me.
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