On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
When there is a Part in a Government which can do no wrong, it implies that it does nothing; and is only the machine of another power, by whose advice and direction it acts.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgThomas Paine: “When there is a Part in a Government which can do no wrong, it implies that it does nothing; and is only the machine of…”
Editor's note · Context
Paine argues that a government component immune to error effectively does nothing, serving merely as an instrument for another's will.
Share
More from Thomas Paine
Jan 1, 1791
Reason and discussion, persuasion and conviction, become the weapons in the contest, and it is only when those are attempted to be suppressed that recourse is had to violence.
Jan 1, 1791
Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is preserved uninterrupted.
Jan 1, 1791
I have no idea, considering the reforms which are now passing and spreading throughout Europe, that England will permit herself to be the last; and where the occasion and the opportunity quietly offer, it is better than to wait for a…