{"quotes":[{"text":"Loving, of enemies is another dogma of feigned morality, and has besides no meaning. It is incumbent on man, as a moralist, that he does not revenge an injury; and it is equally as good in a political sense, for there is no end to retaliation; each retaliates on the other, and calls it justice: but to love in proportion to the injury, if it could be done, would be to offer a premium for a crime. Besides, the word enemies is too vague and general to be used in a moral maxim, which ought always to be clear and defined, like a proverb. If a man be the enemy of another from mistake and prejudice, as in the case of religious opinions, and sometimes in politics, that man is different to an enemy at heart with a criminal intention; and it is incumbent upon us, and it contributes also to our own tranquillity, that we put the best construction upon a thing that it will bear. But even this erroneous motive in him makes no motive for love on the other part; and to say that we can love voluntarily, and without a motive, is morally and physically impossible.Morality is injured by prescribing to it duties that, in the first place, are impossible to be performed, and if they could be would be productive of evil; or, as before said, be premiums for crime. The maxim of doing as we would be done unto does not include this strange doctrine of loving enemies; for no man expects to be loved himself for his crime or for his enmity.Those who preach this doctrine of loving their enemies, are in general the greatest persecutors, and they act consistently by so doing; for the doctrine is hypocritical, and it is natural that hypocrisy should act the reverse of what it preaches. For my own part, I disown the doctrine, and consider it as a feigned or fabulous morality; yet the man does not exist that can say I have persecuted him, or any man, or any set of men, either in the American Revolution, or in the French Revolution; or that I have, in any case, returned evil for evil.","author":"Thomas Paine","tags":["american-revolution","crime","dogma","enemies","feigned-morality","french-revolution","hypocrisy","injury","intention","justice","love","love-thy-enemy","loving","maxim","meaning","morality","motive","persecution","preach","premius","proverb","revenge","vague"],"id":4846,"author_id":"Thomas+Paine"},{"text":"True republicanism is the sovereignty of the people. There are natural and imprescriptible rights which an entire nation has no right to violate.","author":"Marquis De Lafayette","tags":["american-revolution","liberty","nation","natural","true"],"id":26183,"author_id":"Marquis+De+Lafayette"},{"text":"The long-term effect of Hillary’s loss could be more beneficial to the future of America than one might think. For if Obama’s reign placed hope in the hearts of the young and instilled in them a belief that differences must be embraced then Hillary’s crushing defeat has awakened them to the harsh realities of a hopeful indifference and raised their voices in opposition of all those ideals that would not only darken their future but the future of the entire world.","author":"Aysha Taryam","tags":["american-politics","american-revolution","barak-obama","diversity","donald-trump","hate-speech","hilary-clinton","misogyny","trump-administration","united-states-of-america","us-elections","us-elections-2016","us-politics","young-america"],"id":37665,"author_id":"Aysha+Taryam"},{"text":"Change represents the real spirit of democracy and the real America.","author":"Bryant McGill","tags":["american-revolution","changes","democracy"],"id":39563,"author_id":"Bryant+McGill"},{"text":"Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country.","author":"Marquis De Lafayette","tags":["american-revolution","battle","humanity","inspiration","liberty","revolution"],"id":42392,"author_id":"Marquis+De+Lafayette"},{"text":"And it is undeniably true that the greatest and most important right of a British subject is that he shall be governed by no laws but those to which he, either in person or by his representatives, hath given his consent; and this, I will venture to assert, is the great basis of British freedom; it is interwoven with the Constitution, and whenever this is lost, the Constitution must be destroyed.","author":"Joseph Warren","tags":["america","american-revolution","citizenship","constitution"],"id":46859,"author_id":"Joseph+Warren"},{"text":"One if by land, two if by sea.","author":"Henry Wadsworth Longfellow","tags":["america","american-revolution","britain","paul-revere-s-ride"],"id":61113,"author_id":"Henry+Wadsworth+Longfellow"},{"text":"Give me liberty or give me d.","author":"Patrick Henry","tags":["american-revolution","death","founding-fathers","freedom","history","liberty","revolt","revolution"],"id":75762,"author_id":"Patrick+Henry"},{"text":"When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensible of duties.","author":"Marquis De Lafayette","tags":["american-revolution","government","liberty","rights","sacred"],"id":79142,"author_id":"Marquis+De+Lafayette"},{"text":"Slavery was immensely profitable to some masters. James Madison told a British visitor shortly after the American Revolution that he could make 257 dollars on every (black slave) in a year, and spend only 12 or 13 dollars on his keep.","author":"Howard Zinn","tags":["american-revolution","food-for-thought","founding-fathers","slavery","slavery-history","slavery-in-the-united-states"],"id":83025,"author_id":"Howard+Zinn"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":33,"pages":4,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}