Common Sense (1776) (edit title/settings)

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• Samuel: Add a description of this character.
• Henry

Quotes edit see section history

• “The more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered.”

  Thomas Paine

• “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”

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• the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered; and the easier repaired when disordered;

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• a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.

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• Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world; here too is the design and end of government, viz. freedom and security.

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• WHEREFORE, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows, that whatever FORM thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others.

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• Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil;

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• England
• America
• Great Britain
• Europe
• France
• Independance
• Spain

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Candide, and followed by The Wealth of Nations.

Preceded by The Principia, and followed by The Wealth of Nations.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Thomas Paine (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Gregory Tietjen (Introduction)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 320

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Nonfiction › Politics

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Project Gutenberg:Common Sense by Thomas Paine: The full original text of this public domain work is avaialbe at Project Gutenberg, either to read online, or to download for free in a variety of eBook formats.

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