Thomas Paine Quotes
Lay then the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind.
Paine, Thomas. Rights of Man. J. S. Jordan, 1791.
Most people reading this think at first that if comes out of the Middle Ages, but it is quite contemporary expressing a point of view that holds that the state is but the instrument of and subservient to God as defined by Protestant Fundamentalism.
Manava Dharma Shastra. This text is a part of the Hindu Holy Texts. Hindus believe that Manu was a prophet whose text is revealed or inspired.
The speech is traditionally written by the government.
This is the earliest surviving attempt of the Romans to formulate a legal code.
The revolution turned on many of its initiators including Vergniaud. He was guillotined along with other Girondists.
This proverb only makes sense in the light of understanding the Arab concept of revenge—“blood.” In a rural desert environment where little can be expected of government, the Arabs have developed a law enforcement and peace keeping mechanism which while primitive from modern standards, nevertheless worked to some degree. It is that revenge—“blood” is a moral necessity and obligation of all people, and revenge is not limited by time or to the individuals involved in the first incidence. The immediate family are the first to extract revenge, but the extended family follows and often the entire clan. Sometimes revenge is tribal or even national. Anyone who fails to revenge a member in his group is not only a disgrace, but is a clear and present danger to the group because then they can be attacked with impunity. So revenge is a strong obligation of the group members and blood must be paid with blood no matter how many generations it may take. The only thing that keeps me and my family safe, is the surety what whosoever kills one of us will themselves be killed or if they die a natural death we will take revenge on one of the evildoers relatives. Crime must never pay!
Nathaniel Bacon had led a rebellion in Virginia and had routed the Governor’s troops and caused him to flee leaving control of Virginia to Bacon and his followers who were far more democratic and advanced. However Bacon succumbed to swamp fever, and his followers could not hold the colony together giving the Governor a chance to establish his authority. He then went on a vengeful reign of terror, executing all of Bacon’s followers he could get his hands on. With no danger to the authority of the Crown, King Charles felt that Berkeley had gone too far. The King’s father Charles I had been executed in the aftermath of the English Civil War, but he had executed far fewer than Berkely had done in Virginia.
There is not much difference between England then and America now.
This sura on retaliation for murder is behind the Saudi Arabian law which allows the male relative of a murder victim to personally wield the sword in the beheading of the murderer.
In 2008 Pakistani Islamic terrorists, with the support of the Pakistani military, attacked Mumbai, India killing innocent civilians. Shoune was one of the Indian politicians who called for retaliation. The Indian government, however, restrained its forces and did not increase the cycle of violence.
government appointed officials and bureaucrats Savonarola was a very hated ruler, opposed to any kind of a Parliament or assembly. And the penalty for advocating for a Parliament was severe. The Signoria were the various government appointees and clerks. They were influential in Florence and hence they were silenced by the mot draconian methods. There was a movement throughout Italy for parliaments and less arbitrary government. Savonarola was particularly strict in his rooting out sin and cruel in his punishments and hence very unpopular. He was also under the delusion that God himself had called on him to preach his strict version of morality. Some of the Nobles reached the Pope with many of Savonarola’s extreme statements and Savonarola was excommunicated and burned as a heretic. His executioner gloated that he was burning Savonarola before the powerful priest could burn him as he had done so many others.
France was coming under great criticism from the rest of Europe for the bloodbath of executions that the Revolution had become. Many French thought that perhaps they were executing too many people. Saint-Just urged them to hold the course and they did.
While Woodhull was an ardent feminist, she had a complete platform dealing with almost all aspects of society. At the time, women were unable to vote, and the support she did get came from men. She was a serious candidate. She was appealing to most of the mens issues of the time.
Thomas Paine was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. He authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and helped inspire the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era ideals of transnational human rights. Historian Saul K. Padover described him as "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".
