Thomas Paine’s Style
Use of symmetical sentencesIn the first paragraph of Common Sense, Paine wrote,
Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
Posted by Michael L Umphrey on 10/13 at 05:16 PM
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