Thomas Paine é intrigante

Eu nunca li Thomas Paine, mas vagando pelos corredores virtuais da Wikiquote eu encontro umas frases dele.

Há algumas frases das quais discordo, como essa (neste caso, não por assumir que o oposto é verdadeiro, mas tendo uma interpretação diferente da coisa…):

The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.

O negrito foi meu.

Há outras, contudo, das quais gosto muito:

An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.