On the recordJanuary 1, 1776
If the enemy has circulated a falsehood, they have unwisely aggravated us into life, and if they have told us the truth, they have unintentionally done us a service.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgIf the enemy has circulated a falsehood, they have unwisely aggravated us into life, and if they have told us the truth, they have unintentionally done us a service.
Paine observes in "The American Crisis" that the enemy's actions, whether truthful or false, have inadvertently invigorated the American cause.
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When it becomes necessary to do anything, the whole heart and soul should go into the measure, or not attempt it.
A knowledge of the practice was then joined to the theory; and all that was wanting to give it real existence was opportunity.
Burke's Book is easily accounted for.--When a man in a wrong cause attempts to steer his course by anything else than some polar truth or principle, he is sure to be lost.