Every citizen is a member of the Sovereignty, and, as such, can acknowledge no personal subjection; and his obedience can be only to the laws.
Thomas Paine: “Every citizen is a member of the Sovereignty, and, as such, can acknowledge no personal subjection; and his obedience…”
Editor's note · Context
From "Rights of Man," Paine defines the citizen as a participant in sovereignty, owing obedience only to the law, not to any individual.
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