Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk

Thomas Paine Author

  • Gender: Male
  • Citizenship: United States
  • Born: Feb 9, 1737
  • Died: Jun 8, 1809

Thomas Paine was an English and American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".

Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. Virtually every rebel read of his powerful pamphlet Common Sense, the all-time best-selling American title which crystallized the rebellious demand for independence from Great Britain. His The American Crisis was a prorevolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain."

Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. peace

Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society. good & society

These are the times that try men's souls. men

To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not. freedom

The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection. smile & strength

One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests. good

But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing. nature & truth

Every religion is good that teaches man to be good and I know of none that instructs him to be bad. good & religion

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

I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace. peace & time

Time makes more converts than reason. time

Persecution is not an original feature in any religion but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. religion

We have it in our power to begin the world over again. power

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. motivational

The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance. fear, power & strength

It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes. God & good

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil in its worst state an intolerable one. best, government & society

Reputation is what men and women think of us character is what God and angels know of us. God, men & women

Human nature is not of itself vicious. nature

It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry. truth

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. good & religion

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. freedom & men

That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not. God

When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon. men

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst. religion

He who is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death. death & war

Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true. religion

The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. good & religion

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil in its worst state, an intolerable one. best & government

Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities. religion

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man. faith & God