Every civil right has for its foundation some natural right pre-existing in the individual, but to the enjoyment of which his individual power is not, in all cases, sufficiently competent.
From "Rights of Man," this explains that civil rights are built upon natural rights, providing the collective power for their full realization.
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More from Thomas Paine
The poor, in all countries, are naturally both peaceable and grateful in all reforms in which their interest and happiness is included.
Peace, which costs nothing, is attended with infinitely more advantage, than any victory with all its expense.
The object, in all such preliminary proceedings, is to find out what the general sense of a nation is, and to be governed by it.