Political Quotes

Thomas Paine: The mind, in discovering truth, acts in the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; when once any…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
The mind, in discovering truth, acts in the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind back to the same condition it was in before it saw it.
Said by
Thomas Paine

Editor's note · Context

From "Rights of Man," this passage uses the analogy of sight to explain that once the mind perceives truth, it cannot revert to its prior state of unknowing.

Share

More from Thomas Paine

Jan 1, 1791

They had a cause at stake, on which depended their freedom or their slavery.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1791

The American constitutions were to liberty what a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech, and practically construct them into syntax.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1791

To account for this sudden transition, it is proper to observe that there are two distinct species of popularity; the one excited by merit, and the other by resentment.

gutenberg.org
Jan 1, 1791

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.

gutenberg.org