Quote
By Thomas Paine
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.
- Source
- Common Sense; Addressed to the Inhabitants of America, 1776 · Of the Origin and Design of Government in General, p. 7
- Read at
- Internet Archive (John Carter Brown Library scan of the 1776 Philadelphia printing, W. and T. Bradford)
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About this quote
From Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, printed in Philadelphia in 1776 (W. and T. Bradford printing). Paine published it without his name at first.