A law not repealed continues in force, not because it cannot be repealed, but because it is not repealed; and the non-repealing passes for consent.
Thomas Paine: “A law not repealed continues in force, not because it cannot be repealed, but because it is not repealed; and the…”
Editor's note · Context
In "Rights of Man," Paine explains that the continued validity of a law stems from the current generation's implicit consent through non-repeal.
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Reason and discussion, persuasion and conviction, become the weapons in the contest, and it is only when those are attempted to be suppressed that recourse is had to violence.
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