I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.
THOMAS PAINEA long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
More Thomas Paine Quotes
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A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.
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Our greatest enemies, the ones we must fight most often, are within.
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A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
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It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.
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We have it in our power to begin the world over again.
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These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
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Beware the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry.
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If those to whom power is delegated do well, they will be respected; if not, they will be despised.
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Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
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Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
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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.
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For though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.
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One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.
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To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.
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To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.
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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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In Deism our reason and our belief become happily united. The wonderful structure of the universe, and everything we behold in the system of the creation, prove to us, far better than books can do, the existence of a God, and at the same time proclaim His attributes.
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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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All churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim, are simply human inventions. They use fear to enslave us. They are a monopoly for power and profit.
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Every person of learning is finally his own teacher.
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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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No country can be called free which is governed by an absolute power; and it matters not whether it be an absolute royal power or an absolute legislative power, as the consequences will be the same to the people.
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Government is best which governs least.
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Virtue is not hereditary.
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An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
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We repose an unwise confidence in any government, or in any men, when we invest them officially with too much, or an unnecessary quantity of, discretionary power.
THOMAS PAINE