A nation hardened in the practice of iniquity knows better how to profit by it, than a young country newly corrupted.
Thomas Paine: “A nation hardened in the practice of iniquity knows better how to profit by it, than a young country newly corrupted.”
Editor's note · Context
In "The American Crisis," Paine observes that an established corrupt nation is more adept at exploiting vice than a newly emerging country.
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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?
Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is preserved uninterrupted.
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