The object, in all such preliminary proceedings, is to find out what the general sense of a nation is, and to be governed by it.
Thomas Paine: “The object, in all such preliminary proceedings, is to find out what the general sense of a nation is, and to be…”
Editor's note · Context
From "Rights of Man," Paine describes the aim of initial political processes as discerning and adhering to the collective will of the nation.
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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?
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.
If, therefore, the good to be obtained be worthy of a passive, rational, and costless revolution, it would be bad policy to prefer waiting for a calamity that should force a violent one.
I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.