“Whether I have too little sense to see, or too much to be imposed upon; whether I have too much or too little pride, or of anything else, I leave out of the question; but certain it is, that what is called monarchy, always appears to me a silly, contemptible thing. I compare it to something kept behind a curtain, about which there is a great deal of bustle and fuss, and a wonderful air of seeming solemnity; but when, by any accident, the curtain happens to be open — and the company see what it is, they burst into laughter.”

— Thomas Paine , book Rights of Man

Chapter III http://www.constitution.org/tp/rightsman2.htm
1790s, Rights of Man, Part 2 (1792)

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Thomas Paine 262

English and American political activist 1737–1809

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