“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.”

Truth:All it asks is for the liberty of appearing so that men and women may know Truth.I agree.When one knows Truth,there is no need to fear any shadow of doubt."In the Light of Truth,Deception Fails Because- Real Eyes- Realize- Real-Lies! :-)

"In times of tyranny, telling the truth is an act of rebellion" Orwell.

Truth is an alien concept to governments. The big lie is much better for them to use to control people.

Paine wrote this when most of the "known" world Europe that is was under monarchies, which is another word for a "kiss ass" society. In such an environment there is no free market for ideas and thus less opportunity for "truth" to.

Still is mostly the same Waffler. To day we call them dictators. For the most part they are worse. More free countries around the world but so many of the countries that used to be under British or some other European control now are under dictatorships that are much worse. For instance we send food to people starving because of a cyclone and the local government takes it for its own use and let the people starve.

Truth is the greatest gift we have and there's no charge for it.

Paine's comments refer to monarchies and dictatorships as much as it refers to organized religion. Each generation must discover 'truth' for themselves. The best way, IMHO, is to tell the truth -- and sometimes the most honest thing a person can say is, "I don't know." You will never hear a religionist say that...

Said well Archer, and it doesn't matter if the religionist's church is a secular government, organized sect, or loosely held constructs of societal thought.