Political Quotes

Thomas Paine: It defeats even its pretended end, and becomes in time the opposite of what is noble in man.

On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
It defeats even its pretended end, and becomes in time the opposite of what is noble in man.
Said by
Thomas Paine

Editor's note · Context

Paine argues that aristocracy ultimately betrays its own claims of nobility, transforming into the antithesis of human virtue.

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