Those who want to reap the benefits of this great nation must bear the fatigue of supporting it.

The line expresses a civic-republican idea often associated with revolutionary-era political writing: political liberty and national prosperity are not cost-free entitlements but goods sustained by citizens’ ongoing labor, sacrifice, and vigilance. It frames “benefits” (security, rights, prosperity) as inseparable from “fatigue” (taxation, military service, political participation, and the burdens of self-government). The moral logic is reciprocal: enjoying a nation’s protections while refusing its obligations is portrayed as unjust and ultimately self-defeating, because the commonwealth weakens when too many free-ride on others’ efforts. Even if misattributed, the sentiment aligns with Paine’s broader insistence that independence and republican government require active public commitment.