Thomas Paine Quote

When it shall be said in any country in the world, my poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of its happiness: When these things can be said, then may the country boast of its constitution and its government.

Part 2.7 Chapter V. Ways and means of improving the condition of Europe, interspersed with miscellaneous observations - The Rights of Man (1791)