On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
Government with insolence is despotism; but when contempt is added it becomes worse; and to pay for contempt is the excess of slavery.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgGovernment with insolence is despotism; but when contempt is added it becomes worse; and to pay for contempt is the excess of slavery.
Paine defines the escalating nature of oppressive rule, from insolent government to the ultimate degradation of paying for one's own contempt.
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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.
Nations, like individuals, who have long been enemies, without knowing each other, or knowing why, become the better friends when they discover the errors and impositions under which they had acted.
Peace, which costs nothing, is attended with infinitely more advantage, than any victory with all its expense.
The insulted German and the enslaved Spaniard, the Russ and the Pole, are beginning to think.