"A long habit of not thinking a..." - Quote by Thomas Paine
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
More by Thomas Paine
“Government without a constitution, is a power without a right.”
“There is something in meanness which excites a species of resentment that never subsides, and something in cruelty which stirs up the heart to the highest agony of human hatred.”
“Action and care will in time wear down the strongest frame, but guilt and melancholy are poisons of quick dispatch.”
More on Custom
“Customs do not concern themselves with right or wrong or reason. But they have to be obeyed; one reasons all around them until he is tired, but he must not transgress them, it is sternly forbidden.”
“We must not make a scarecrow of the law, Setting it up to fear the birds of prey, And let it keep one shape till custom make it Their perch, and not their terror.”
“The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it”
More on Change
“The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.”
“One person can and does make a difference.”
“One shall be born from small beginnings which will rapidly become vast. This will respect no created thing, rather will it, by its power, transform almost every thing from its own nature into another.”