On the recordJanuary 1, 1776
If any two nations are so, then must all nations be so, otherwise it is not nature but custom, and the offence frequently originates with the accuser.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgIf any two nations are so, then must all nations be so, otherwise it is not nature but custom, and the offence frequently originates with the accuser.
Paine argues that if "natural enmity" exists between any two nations, it must exist for all, otherwise it is merely custom, often initiated by the accuser.
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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.
I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.
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?