On the recordJanuary 1, 1791
Whether they mean strength or weakness, wisdom or folly, a child or a man, or the rider or the horse, is all equivocal.
Said by
Thomas Paine
Source
gutenberg.orgWhether they mean strength or weakness, wisdom or folly, a child or a man, or the rider or the horse, is all equivocal.
Paine highlights the inherent ambiguity and lack of substantive meaning in aristocratic titles, rendering them equivocal.
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It was become evident, that no constitution, worthy of being called by that name, could be established on anything less than a national ground.
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