On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
Do we need a stronger evidence of the absurdity of hereditary government than is seen in the descendants of those men, in any line of life, who once were famous?
Said by
Thomas Paine
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gutenberg.orgDo we need a stronger evidence of the absurdity of hereditary government than is seen in the descendants of those men, in any line of life, who once were famous?
Paine challenges the logic of hereditary rule by pointing to the common observation that talent and fame are rarely passed down through generations.
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More from Thomas Paine
Burke's Book is easily accounted for.--When a man in a wrong cause attempts to steer his course by anything else than some polar truth or principle, he is sure to be lost.
The meaning, then, good people, of all this, is: That government is governed by no principle whatever; that it can make evil good, or good evil, just as it pleases.
I know the value of moral instruction, and I have seen the danger of the contrary.