Public measures appeal of themselves to the understanding of the Nation, and, resting on their own merits, disown any flattering applications to vanity.
Thomas Paine: “Public measures appeal of themselves to the understanding of the Nation, and, resting on their own merits, disown any…”
Editor's note · Context
From his work "Rights of Man," Paine describes how public policy in a true republic should be judged on its merits rather than through manipulation.
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I have no idea, considering the reforms which are now passing and spreading throughout Europe, that England will permit herself to be the last; and where the occasion and the opportunity quietly offer, it is better than to wait for a…
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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.