Political Quotes

Thomas Paine: “It would puzzle all the politicians in the universe to conceive what you stay for, or why you should have stayed so…”

On the recordJanuary 1, 1776
It would puzzle all the politicians in the universe to conceive what you stay for, or why you should have stayed so long.
Said by
Thomas Paine

Editor's note · Context

During the American Revolution, this quote expresses Paine's incredulity at Britain's prolonged and seemingly aimless military engagement in America.

Share

More from Thomas Paine

Jan 1, 1791

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…

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1791

Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is preserved uninterrupted.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1791

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.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1791

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.

gutenberg.org