Character is to us, in our present circumstances, of more importance than interest.
Thomas Paine: “Character is to us, in our present circumstances, of more importance than interest.”
Editor's note · Context
In "The American Crisis," Paine asserts that for America, especially in its current situation, moral character holds greater value than mere self-interest.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
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.
There ought, therefore, to be in every nation a method of occasionally ascertaining the state of public opinion with respect to government.
When all the governments of Europe shall be established on the representative system, nations will become acquainted, and the animosities and prejudices fomented by the intrigue and artifice of courts, will cease.
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.