The man that does not now feel for the honor of the best and noblest cause that ever a country engaged in, and exert himself accordingly, is no longer worthy of a peaceable residence among a people determined to be free.
Thomas Paine: “The man that does not now feel for the honor of the best and noblest cause that ever a country engaged in, and exert…”
Editor's note · Context
During the American Revolution, this passage declares that anyone failing to support the cause of liberty is undeserving of living among a free people.
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Why may we not suppose, that the great Father of all is pleased with variety of devotion; and that the greatest offence we can act, is that by which we seek to torment and render each other miserable?
I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.
In those which proceed from the former cause, the temper becomes incensed and soured; and the redress, obtained by danger, is too often sullied by revenge.
When men unite in agreeing that a thing is good, could it be obtained, such for instance as relief from a burden of taxes and the extinction of corruption, the object is more than half accomplished.