“ Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind. ”
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Paine |
|---|---|
| Source | Common Sense |
| Topic | happiness misery |
| Date | 1776 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/147/147-h/147-h.htm |
Context
“and though avarice will preserve a man from being necessitously poor, it generally makes him too timorous to be wealthy.
32 But there is another and greater distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is, the distinction of men into kings and subjects. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth enquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.
33 In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throw mankind into confusion.”
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