Thomas Paine was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. He authored the two most influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution and inspired the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. These inspirational Thomas Paine Quotes will change your life.
Best Thomas Paine Quotes
- “To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” – Thomas Paine
- “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” – Thomas Paine
- “He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” – Thomas Paine
- “It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error.” – Thomas Paine
- “The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” – Thomas Paine
- “Our greatest enemies, the ones we must fight most often, are within.” – Thomas Paine
- “The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes.” – 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 fatigue of supporting it.” – Thomas Paine
- “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” – Thomas Paine
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“When all other rights are taken away, the right of rebellion is made perfect.” – Thomas Paine
- “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” – Thomas Paine
- “Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.” – Thomas Paine
- “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” – Thomas Paine
- “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” – Thomas Paine
- “The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.” – Thomas Paine
- “Men should not petition for rights, but take them” – Thomas Paine
- “Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.” – Thomas Paine
- “It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies.” – Thomas Paine
- “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” – Thomas Paine
- “Where knowledge is a duty, ignorance is a crime.” – Thomas Paine
- “It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.” – Thomas Paine
- “The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.” – Thomas Paine
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“My country is wherever liberty lives.” – Thomas Paine
- “One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.” – Thomas Paine
- “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” – Thomas Paine
- “You cannot undermine police authority and then complain about rising crime.” – Thomas Paine
- “The slavery of fear had made men afraid to think.” – Thomas Paine
- “Some people can be reasoned into sense, and others must be shocked into it.” – Thomas Paine
- “These are the times that try men’s souls.” – Thomas Paine
- “Public money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous consciousness of honor.” – Thomas Paine
- “To take away (voting) is to reduce a man to slavery.” – Thomas Paine
- “…for though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.” – Thomas Paine
- “If those to whom power is delegated do well, they will be respected; if not, they will be despised.” – Thomas Paine
- “Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must undertake to support it.” – Thomas Paine
- “An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.” – Thomas Paine
- “Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.” – Thomas Paine
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“Prophesying is lying professionally.” – Thomas Paine
- “When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.” – Thomas Paine
- “The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.” – Thomas Paine
- “Government is best which governs least” – Thomas Paine
- “The greatest remedy for anger is delay.” – Thomas Paine
- “Science is the true theology.” – Thomas Paine
- “Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness.” – Thomas Paine
- “That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.” – Thomas Paine
- “Youth is the seed-time of good habits, as well in nations as in individuals.” – Thomas Paine
- “The period of debate is closed. Arms, as a last resource, must decide the contest.” – Thomas Paine
- “Every religion is good that teaches man to be good, and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.” – Thomas Paine
- “Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.” – 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
