So far is it from being true, as has been pretended, that the abolition of any formal government is the dissolution of society, that it acts by a contrary impulse, and brings the latter the closer together.
From "Rights of Man," this passage refutes the idea that abolishing formal government dissolves society, arguing instead that it strengthens societal bonds.
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More from Thomas Paine
The American constitutions were to liberty what a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech, and practically construct them into syntax.
Many of the facts were in themselves principles; such as the declaration of American Independence, and the treaty of alliance between France and America, which recognised the natural rights of man, and justified resistance to oppression.
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.
The more it is struck the more sparks it will emit; and the fear is it will not be struck enough.