Beware the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry.
THOMAS PAINEThere are two distinct classes of men – those who pay taxes and those who receive and live upon taxes.
More Thomas Paine Quotes
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Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
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There are two distinct classes of men – those who pay taxes and those who receive and live upon taxes.
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When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to [profess] things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.
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Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.
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A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
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If I do not believe as you believe, it proves that you do not believe as I believe, and that is all that it proves.
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The Deist needs none of those tricks and shows called miracles to confirm his faith, for what can be a greater miracle than the creation itself, and his own existence?
THOMAS PAINE -
Religion is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it as I detest everything that is cruel.
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To take away voting is to reduce a man to slavery.
THOMAS PAINE -
The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.
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Government is not a trade which any man or body of men has a right to set up and exercise for his own emolument, but is altogether a trust, in right of those by whom that trust is delegated, and by whom it is always resumable. It has of itself no rights; they are altogether duties.
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It is always to be taken for granted, that those who oppose an equality of rights never mean the exclusion should take place on themselves.
THOMAS PAINE -
Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
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Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
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The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
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Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
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A constitution defines and limits the powers of the government it creates. It therefore follows, as a natural and also a logical result, that the governmental exercise of any power not authorized by the constitution is an assumed power, and therefore illegal.
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The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.
THOMAS PAINE -
You cannot undermine police authority and then complain about rising crime.
THOMAS PAINE -
Our greatest enemies, the ones we must fight most often, are within.
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Every proprietor owes to the community a ground-rent for the land which he holds.
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Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property… Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.
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The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.
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The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed.
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An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
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He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
THOMAS PAINE