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Philosophical Haiku

Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

by Terence Green

Just revolution:
Common sense proscribes despots
Nature prescribes rights.

Thomas Paine was exactly the sort of revolution-making rights-loving do-gooder that Edmund Burke found tiresome. But lots of other people liked him. Paine was born to be a revolutionary – which was lucky, because there happened to be two jolly good revolutions during his life-time.

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