It may perhaps be said that it signifies nothing to a man what is done to him after he is dead; but it signifies much to the living; it either tortures their feelings or hardens their hearts, and in either case it instructs them how to punish when power falls into their hands.
In "Rights of Man," Paine reflects on the societal impact of cruel punishments, arguing they affect the living by either torturing their feelings or hardening their hearts.
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