Under such systems, nothing is to be looked for but what has already happened; and as to reformation, whenever it come, it must be from the nation, and not from the government.
Thomas Paine: “Under such systems, nothing is to be looked for but what has already happened; and as to reformation, whenever it come…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine asserts that fundamental change and reformation must originate from the people, not from the existing government itself.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
As to what are called national religions, we may, with as much propriety, talk of national Gods.
But in England there are no such occasional bodies; and as to those who are now called Representatives, a great part of them are mere machines of the court, placemen, and dependants.
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.
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.