On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
If a country does not understand its own affairs, how is a foreigner to understand them, who knows neither its laws, its manners, nor its language?
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgIf a country does not understand its own affairs, how is a foreigner to understand them, who knows neither its laws, its manners, nor its language?
Paine argues against foreign intervention or rule, emphasizing that outsiders lack the fundamental understanding required to govern another nation effectively.
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In fine, society performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to government.
A knowledge of the practice was then joined to the theory; and all that was wanting to give it real existence was opportunity.
It was Government dethroning Government; and the old one, by attempting to make a new one, made a chasm.