Political Quotes

Thomas Paine: A cannot make a will to take from B the property of B, and give it to C; yet this is the manner in which (what is…

On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
A cannot make a will to take from B the property of B, and give it to C; yet this is the manner in which (what is called) hereditary succession by law operates.
Said by
Thomas Paine

Editor's note · Context

In "Rights of Man," Paine uses a legal analogy to illustrate the fundamental injustice of hereditary succession, where one generation attempts to dispose of the rights of another.

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