Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
THOMAS PAINEThe slavery of fear had made men afraid to think.
More Thomas Paine Quotes
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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.
THOMAS PAINE -
Men should not petition for rights, but take them.
THOMAS PAINE -
Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another. It is impossible to discover any origin of rights otherwise than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man.
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It is easy to see that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues.
THOMAS PAINE -
There are two distinct classes of men – those who pay taxes and those who receive and live upon taxes.
THOMAS PAINE -
It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error.
THOMAS PAINE -
It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice; and even mercy, where conquest is the object, is only a trick of war; the cunning of the fox is as murderous as the violence of the wolf.
THOMAS PAINE -
He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
THOMAS PAINE -
Every person of learning is finally his own teacher.
THOMAS PAINE -
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 -
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 -
It is important that we should never lose sight of this distinction. We must not confuse the peoples with their governments.
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It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.
THOMAS PAINE -
The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.
THOMAS PAINE -
An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
THOMAS PAINE