Showing posts with label necessary evil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label necessary evil. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)


"Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is 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." Thomas Paine