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.
One summer we were driving across Montana. The stretch of Hwy 12 from Forsyth to Roundup was not straight by any means, but it also was 110 miles long with no services and only one road sign.
Obvious inspiration for the infamous Desert Bus video game, proudly proclaimed as the most boring game ever and weird basis for a PAX charities fundraising video marathon that this year raised over $600K in eight days (I think they put the actual game showing the endless road into a smaller box in the corner of the vid feed every year)
Comments (2)
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.
- Samuel Edward Konkin III, founder of agorism (1947 - 2004)
Personally, I like Thomas Paine's quote better. It's more poetic.