TO argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.
In a critique of those who reject reason, this passage describes the futility of attempting to persuade individuals who hold humanity in contempt.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
But from such opposition the French Revolution, instead of suffering, receives an homage.
The man who is in the receipt of a million a year is the last person to promote a spirit of reform, lest, in the event, it should reach to himself.
The Aristocracy had hitherto opposed the despotism of the Court, and affected the language of patriotism; but it opposed it as its rival (as the English Barons opposed King John) and it now opposed the nation from the same motives.