black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind of corruption generates and forms.

Thomas Paine

It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.
THOMAS PAINE

Greatness Power Strength Unity
A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.
THOMAS PAINE

Accountable Body Hold Man Trust
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

Confidence Government Man Necessary Power
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.
THOMAS PAINE

Appearance Freedom Liberty Nature Reason Rebel Truth
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.
THOMAS PAINE

Belief Creation Existence Happiness Himself Reason Time Unity Universe Wonderful
For though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.
THOMAS PAINE

Coal Flame Liberty Shine
The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.
THOMAS PAINE

Fear Power Resistance Strength
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.
THOMAS PAINE

Believe Corruption Crime Himself Man Mindset Preparation Prostitution
Our greatest enemies, the ones we must fight most often, are within.
THOMAS PAINE

Enemy Fight Greatness Oneself Philosophy
A Constitution is not the act of a Government, but of a people constituting a government, and a government without a constitution is a power without right.
THOMAS PAINE

Act Constitution Government People Power Right
Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
THOMAS PAINE

Country Goodness Happiness Independence Person Place Religion View World
Where knowledge is a duty, ignorance is a crime.
THOMAS PAINE

Crime Ignorance Knowledge Responsibility
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.
THOMAS PAINE

Election Himself Man Protection Representation Right Slave Vote
Christianity is the strangest religion ever set up, for it committed a murder upon Jesus in order to redeem mankind from the sin of eating an apple.
THOMAS PAINE

Commitment Eat Kind Man Murder People Religion Sin Strange
Government without a constitution, is a power without a right.
THOMAS PAINE

Constitution Government Power Right
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.
THOMAS PAINE

Appearance Habit Reason Time Wrong

When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind of corruption generates and forms.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind of corruption generates and forms.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Thomas Paine Quotes