All the European governments (France now excepted) are constructed not on the principle of universal civilisation, but on the reverse of it.
Thomas Paine: “All the European governments (France now excepted) are constructed not on the principle of universal civilisation, but…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine asserts in "Rights of Man" that, with the exception of revolutionary France, European governments are fundamentally opposed to the principles of universal civilization.
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In those which proceed from the former cause, the temper becomes incensed and soured; and the redress, obtained by danger, is too often sullied by revenge.