Written prior to the revolutionary war, "Common Sense" was a widely distributed phamphlet that argued for the complete independence of America from Britain. Its importance in terms of American history cannot by understated. The influence that this publication had on the American sentiment... read more
“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.”
the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered; and the easier repaired when disordered;Highlighted by 117 Kindle customers
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.Highlighted by 82 Kindle customers
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.Highlighted by 55 Kindle customers
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.Highlighted by 55 Kindle customers
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;Highlighted by 42 Kindle customers
Introduction
1. Of the Origin and Design of Government in General with Concise Remarks on the English Constitution
2. Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession
3. Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs
4. Of the Present Ability of America, With Some Miscellaneous Reflexions
5. Appendix
Preceded by Candide, and followed by The Wealth of Nations.
Preceded by The Principia, and followed by The Wealth of Nations.
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