A good post, friend. He certainly was an articulate guy, and that is an awesome quote.
Paine just seemed to get bitter the longer he went on, and eventually turned on Washington and some of the other founders for perceived slights. He also, if I remember correctly, jumped on the French Revolution populist bandwagon, encouraging the darker sentiments which, by the Grace of God, did not prevail here in America during and after ours.
Haven’t read I, Pencil, but will look it up as it speaks to the Adam Smith lover in me!
Never understood the rivalry between Hamilton and Adams either.
Do you happen to know what was the ‘original sin’ there?
It is the source of an example used by Milton Freidman in Free to Choose.