A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to "bind me in all cases whatsoever" to his absolute will, am I to suffer it?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses a strong stance against offensive war while justifying self-defense against aggression.
Thomas Paine argues that while he would never support a war of aggression, he believes it is entirely legitimate to defend oneself and one's property against an intruder. His statement reflects the philosophical debate between pacifism and justifiable self-defense, calling into question the morality of war and the right to protect oneself from imminent threat.
Themes
WarSelf-DefenseMoralityAggressionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate on the ethics of war, one might reference this quote to support the case for justifiable defense.
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.
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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
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