Quotes by Thomas Paine

About Thomas Paine:

Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist and revolutionary. One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, he authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, and he inspired the rebels in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment-era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination".
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The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.

Thomas Paine

My mind is my own church.

Thomas Paine

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.

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

That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.

Thomas Paine

Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.

Thomas Paine

Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.

Thomas Paine

Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title.

Thomas Paine

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.

Thomas Paine

We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities.

Thomas Paine

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.

Thomas Paine

There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord.

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

It is the direction and not the magnitude which is to be taken into consideration.

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

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

It is an affront to treat falsehood with complaisance.

Thomas Paine

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

Thomas Paine

The Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the sun, in which they put a man called Christ in the place of the sun, and pay him the adoration originally payed to the sun.

Thomas Paine

If I do not believe as you believe, it proves that you do not believe as I believe, and that is all that it proves.

Thomas Paine

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.

Thomas Paine

Author Bio

  • NameThomas Paine
  • DescriptionEnglish and American political activist
  • BornJanuary 29, 1737
  • DiedJune 8, 1809
  • CountryUnited Kingdom; United States Of America; France
  • ProfessionPhilosopher; Politician; Writer; Entrepreneur