Thomas Paine
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.
Thomas Paine
An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.
Thomas Paine
Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true.
Thomas Paine
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.
Thomas Paine
Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
Thomas Paine
But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.
Thomas Paine
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Thomas Paine
He that rebels against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a better title to Defender of the Faith, than George the Third.
Thomas Paine
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.
Thomas Paine
Human nature is not of itself vicious.
Thomas Paine
I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Thomas Paine
I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace.
Thomas Paine
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
Thomas Paine
If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.
Thomas Paine
Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities.
Thomas Paine
It is an affront to treat falsehood with complaisance.
Thomas Paine
It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.
Thomas Paine
It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.
Thomas Paine
It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same.
Thomas Paine
It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes.
Thomas Paine
It is the direction and not the magnitude which is to be taken into consideration.
Thomas Paine
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Thomas Paine
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
Thomas Paine
My mind is my own church.
Thomas Paine
Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.
Thomas Paine
One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.
Thomas Paine
Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.
Thomas Paine
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.
Thomas Paine
That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.
Thomas Paine
The greatest remedy for anger is delay.
Thomas Paine
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
Thomas Paine
The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.
Thomas Paine
The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.
Thomas Paine
The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.
Thomas Paine
The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.
Thomas Paine
The Vatican is a dagger in the heart of Italy.
Thomas Paine
The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.
Thomas Paine
The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
Thomas Paine
There are matters in the Bible, said to be done by the express commandment of God, that are shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of moral justice.
Thomas Paine
These are the times that try men's souls.
Thomas Paine
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.
Thomas Paine
Those who want to reap the benefits of this great nation must bear the fatigue of supporting it.
Thomas Paine
Time makes more converts than reason.
Thomas Paine
Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title.
Thomas Paine
To establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches.
Thomas Paine
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.
Thomas Paine
Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one's own efforts.
Thomas Paine
We have it in our power to begin the world over again.
Thomas Paine
When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.
Thomas Paine
When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
Thomas Paine