A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government; and government without a constitution is power without a right. All power exercised over a nation, must have some beginning. It must be either delegated, or assumed. There are not other sources. All delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation. Time does not alter the nature and quality of either. β¨ Thomas Paine, Mark Philp (2008). Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, p.238, Oxford University Press
More Author Quotes
- There are two distinct classes of men - those who pay taxes and those who receive and live upon taxes. β¨ Thomas Paine (1830). The Political Writings of Thomas Paine ...: Prospects on the Rubicon. Rig β¦ βΆ
- The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind. β¨ Common Sense introduction (1776)
- The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed. β¨ Thomas Paine, Thomas ERSKINE (Baron Erskine.) (1797). A Letter to the Honourable T. Erskine [the Couns β¦ βΆ
- The protection of a man's person is more sacred than the protection of his property. β¨ Thomas Paine, Mark Philp (1998). Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, p.400, Oxford Paperb β¦ βΆ
- How necessary it is at all times to watch against the attempted encroachment of power, and to prevent its running to excess. β¨ Thomas Paine (1791). Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke's Attac β¦ βΆ
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