On the recordJanuary 1, 1776
The sum, when proportioned out according to the several abilities of the people, can hurt no one, but an inroad from the enemy ruins hundreds of families.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgThomas Paine: “The sum, when proportioned out according to the several abilities of the people, can hurt no one, but an inroad from the…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine argues that a distributed financial contribution for defense is less harmful than the concentrated destruction caused by enemy invasion.
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The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.
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The aristocracy has screened itself too much, and this serves to restore a part of the lost equilibrium.