The subject, on every point in which it could be viewed, was entangled with perplexities, and enveloped in obscurity, yet such are the resources of America, that she wants nothing but system to secure success.
Thomas Paine: “The subject, on every point in which it could be viewed, was entangled with perplexities, and enveloped in obscurity…”
Editor's note · Context
From a series of pamphlets written during the American Revolution, this passage reflects on the challenges faced by the nascent nation and its inherent strengths.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
Man cannot, properly speaking, make circumstances for his purpose, but he always has it in his power to improve them when they occur, and this was the case in France.
They form a common policy throughout Europe, detached and separate from the interest of Nations: and while they appear to quarrel, they agree to plunder.
In fine, society performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to government.
It was a sort of new form of government that insensibly served to put the old one out of sight and to unhinge it from the superstitious authority of antiquity.