Political Quotes

Thomas Paine: By nature they are children, and by marriage they are heirs; but by aristocracy they are bastards and orphans.

On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
By nature they are children, and by marriage they are heirs; but by aristocracy they are bastards and orphans.
Said by
Thomas Paine

Editor's note · Context

Paine starkly contrasts the natural status of children as heirs with the dehumanizing label of "bastards and orphans" imposed by aristocratic primogeniture.

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