Thomas Paine, (1737-1809) US Founding father, pamphleteer, author Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [31-57] of 57 Thomas Paine quotesThomas Paine QuotesThomas Paine Previous 30 quotes 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 Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness.~ Thomas Paine Truth never envelops itself in mystery, and the mystery in which it is at any time enveloped is the work of its antagonist, and never of itself.~ Thomas Paine When I contemplate the natural dignity of man; when I feel ... for the honor and happiness of its character, I become irritated at the attempt to govern mankind by force and fraud, as if they were all knaves and fools, and can scarcely avoid disgust at those who are thus imposed upon.~ Thomas Paine When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.~ Thomas Paine Government ought to be as much open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of which it has been monopolized from age to age, by the most ignorant and vicious of the human race. Need we any other proof of their wretched management, than the excess of debts and taxes with which every nation groans, and the quarrels into which they have precipitated the world?~ Thomas Paine Beware the greedy hand of government, thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry.~ Thomas Paine It has been thought a considerable advance towards establishing the principles of Freedom, to say, that government is a compact between those who govern and those that are governed: but this cannot be true, because it is putting the effect before the cause; for as man must have existed before governments existed, there necessarily was a time when governments did not exist, and consequently there could originally exist no governors to form such a compact with. The fact therefore must be, that the individuals themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a compact with each other to produce a government: and this is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to exist.~ Thomas Paine Arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property.~ Thomas Paine When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.~ Thomas Paine But if you say, you can still pass the violations over, then I ask, hath your house been burnt? Hath your property been destroyed before your face? Are your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on? Have you lost a parent or a child by their hands, and yourself the ruined and wretched survivor? If you have not, then you are not a judge of those who have. But if you have, and can still shake hands with the murderers, then you are unworthy of the name of husband, father, friend, or lover, and whatever may be your rank or title in life, you have the heart of a coward and the spirit of a sycophant.~ Thomas Paine He who dares not offend cannot be honest.~ Thomas Paine The most formidable weapons against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.~ Thomas Paine 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 An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates his duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.~ Thomas Paine Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; 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 defence of custom. But the tumult soon subsides.~ Thomas Paine For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever.~ Thomas Paine From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms! Through the land let the sound of it flee; Let the far and the near all unite, with a cheer, In defense of our Liberty Tree.~ Thomas Paine The trade of governing has always been monopolized by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.~ Thomas Paine Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of Government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.~ 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 Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.~ Thomas Paine Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.~ Thomas Paine Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system.~ Thomas Paine But if objects for gratitude and admiration are our desire, do they not present themselves every hour to our eyes?~ Thomas Paine If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.~ Thomas Paine Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ...~ Thomas Paine Previous 30 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print