The passage below was written by thomas paine in his 1776 pamphlet, "common sense." quote by thomas paine in a purple box, reading, the powers of the hands of the such to liberty..is he..a proper person to say to these colonies, you shall make no laws but what i . © 2013 flvs based on this passage, with which statement would thomas paine agree? the power to make laws should reside in one person. the king was given the right to rule by god. the people should decide who has the power to rule. the government decides the nature of liberty.