A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determined not to be slaves themselves, they employed their power to enslave the rest of mankind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True liberty involves not only freedom for oneself but also a commitment to justice for others.
Thomas Paine highlights the contradiction in the actions of the Grecians and Romans, who desired liberty for themselves while simultaneously enslaving others. This reflects a deeper philosophical discussion about the ethics of liberty and the moral responsibilities that come with it, emphasizing that genuine freedom should not come at the expense of others' rights and freedoms.
Themes
LibertyPowerEnslavementJusticeFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about social justice, the quote could illustrate the hypocrisy in fighting for freedom while oppressing others.
More from Thomas Paine
All quotes →That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not.
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I consider the war of America against Britain as the country's war, the public's war, or the war of the people in their own behalf, for the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their own property.
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Had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon, in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twenty-four hours, and all nations would have believed it; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know anything of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it.
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The end of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression.
Thomas PaineRead
To reason with goverments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected
Thomas PaineRead
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