Quote: Thomas Paine on Taxation

"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue."

- Thomas Paine, philosopher (1737 - 1809)


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It's not poetic. It's a feature of his rhetorical training.

The quote really sounds to me like an echo of the Roman historian Tacitus. Paine's quote would remind his readers of Tacitus' writings about how the Roman emperors gradually and sneakily assumed control over the government, and over Roman lives.

I'll have to look it up.
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