Thomas Paine Quotations And Sayings

by allinspiration.com

“Mingling religion with politics may be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of America.”
– Thomas Paine

“Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.”
– Thomas Paine

“My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”
– Thomas Paine

“My mind is my own church.”
– Thomas Paine

“No falsehood is so fatal as that which is made an article of faith.”
– Thomas Paine

“Nothing, they say is more certain than death, and nothing more uncertain than the time of dying.”
– Thomas Paine

“O! ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the Old World is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her like a stranger and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.”
– Thomas Paine

“Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid or produces only atheists or fanatics. As an engine of power, it serves the purpose of despotism, and as a means of wealth, the avarice of priests, but so far as respects the good of man in general it leads to nothing here or hereafter.”
– 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

“One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings, is, that nature disapproves it, otherwise, she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass for a lion.”
– Thomas Paine

“Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law.”
– Thomas Paine

“Priests and conjurors are of the same trade.”
– Thomas Paine

“Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind.”
– Thomas Paine

“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”
– Thomas Paine

“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”
– Thomas Paine

“Small islands, not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island.”
– Thomas Paine

“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
– Thomas Paine

“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.”
– Thomas Paine

“Such is the irresistible nature of truth that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.”
– Thomas Paine

“Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.”
– Thomas Paine

“Taxes are not raised to carry on wars, but that wars are raised to carry on taxes.”
– 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 government is best which governs least.”
– Thomas Paine

“That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrels of nations, is as shocking as it is true; but when those who are concerned in the government of a country, make it their study to sow discord and cultivate prejudices between nations, it becomes the more unpardonable.”
– Thomas Paine

“That which may be thought right and found convenient in one age, may be thought wrong and found inconvenient in another. In such cases, who is to decide, the living, or the dead?”
– Thomas Paine

“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.”
– Thomas Paine

“The abilities of man must fall short on one side or the other, like too scanty a blanket when you are abed. If you pull it upon your shoulders, your feet are left bare; if you thrust it down to your feet, your shoulders are uncovered.”
– Thomas Paine

“The American constitutions were to liberty, what a grammar is to language: they define its parts of speech and practically construct them into syntax.”
– Thomas Paine

“The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside. And while a single nation refuses to lay them down, it is proper that all should keep them up.”
– Thomas Paine

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