Thomas Paine
20 quotations
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
The final event to himself has been, that as he rose like a rocket, he fell like the stick.
Human nature is not of itself vicious.
That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.
Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
We have it in our power to begin the world over again.
Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title.
When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.
The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.
Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.
The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.
Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.
A bad cause will never be supported by bad means and bad men.
Reputation is what men and women think of us. Character is what God and the angels know of us.
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.
When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.
My own mind is my own church.
These are the times that try men's souls.