Thomas Paine – 44 Quotes

44 Quotes by Thomas Paine

Time makes more converts than reason.

– Thomas Paine

Human nature is not of itself vicious.

– Thomas Paine

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

– Thomas Paine

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.

– Thomas Paine

These are the times that try men’s souls.

– Thomas Paine

We have it in our power to begin the world over again.

– Thomas Paine

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

– Thomas Paine

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

– Thomas Paine

It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.

– Thomas Paine

One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.

– Thomas Paine

Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.

– Thomas Paine

Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.

– Thomas Paine

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.

– Thomas Paine

The strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance.

– Thomas Paine

The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

– Thomas Paine

Reputation is what men and women think of us character is what God and angels know of us.

– Thomas Paine

When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.

– Thomas Paine

It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes.

– Thomas Paine

The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.

– Thomas Paine

Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be true.

– Thomas Paine

Those who want to reap the benefits of this great nation must bear the fatigue of supporting it.

– 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

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil in its worst state, an intolerable one.

– Thomas Paine

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

– Thomas Paine

I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace.

– Thomas Paine

But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.

– Thomas Paine

He who is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death.

– 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

Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities.

– 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

To say that any people are not fit for freedom, is to make poverty their choice, and to say they had rather be loaded with taxes than not.

– 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

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue but moderation in principle is always a vice.

– Thomas Paine

The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.

– Thomas Paine

‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

– Thomas Paine

There are matters in the Bible, said to be done by the express commandment of God, that are shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of moral justice.

– Thomas Paine

To establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches.

– Thomas Paine

I believe in the equality of man and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.

– Thomas Paine

He that rebels against reason is a real rebel, but he that in defence of reason rebels against tyranny has a better title to Defender of the Faith, than George the Third.

– Thomas Paine

War involves in its progress such a train of unforeseen circumstances that no human wisdom can calculate the end it has but one thing certain, and that is to increase taxes.

– Thomas Paine

Every science has for its basis a system of principles as fixed and unalterable as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. Man cannot make principles he can only discover them.

– 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

It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving, it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.

– Thomas Paine

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.

– Thomas Paine