If those to whom power is delegated do well, they will be respected; if not, they will be despised.
Thomas PaineWhat is called a republic, is not any particular form of government ... it is naturally opposed to the word monarchy, which means arbitrary power.
Thomas PaineThe representative system of government is calculated to produce the wisest laws, by collecting wisdom where it can be found.
Thomas PaineWhat we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.
Thomas PaineA constitution, therefore, is to a government what the laws made afterwards by that government are to a court of judicature. The court of judicature does not make the laws, neither can it alter them; it only acts in conformity to the laws made: and the government is in like manner governed by the constitution.
Thomas Paine