Ye that dare oppose, not only tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Thomas Paine More Quotes by Thomas Paine More Quotes From Thomas Paine Had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon, in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twenty-four hours, and all nations would have believed it; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know anything of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it. Thomas Paine characterbelievejesus There are a set of men who go about making purchases upon credit, and buying estates they have not wherewithal to pay for; and having done this, their next step is to fill the newspapers with paragraphs of the scarcity of money and the necessity of a paper emission, then to have a legal tender under the pretense of supporting its credit, and when out, to depreciate it as fast as they can, get a deal of it for a little price, and cheat their creditors; and this is the concise history of paper money schemes. Thomas Paine scarcitycreditmen We repose an unwise confidence in any government, or in any men, when we invest them officially with too much, or an unnecessary quantity of, discretionary power. Thomas Paine separationtoo-muchmen The Allwise Creator hath been dishonored by being made the author of fable and the human mind degraded by believing it. Thomas Paine fablesmindbelieve What is it the Bible teaches us? -- rapine, cruelty, and murder. Thomas Paine founding-fathers-religioncrueltymurder Every age and generation must be as free to act for itself in all cases as the ages and generations which preceded it. The vanity and presumption of governing beyond the grave is the most ridiculous and insolent of all tyrannies. Thomas Paine vanitygenerationsage 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 motivationwarfunny Civil rights are those which appertain to man in right of his being a member of society. Every civil right has for its foundation some natural right pre-existing in the individual, but to the enjoyment of which his individual power is not, in all cases, sufficiently competent. Of this kind are all those which relate to security and protection. Thomas Paine individual-powerrightsmen The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case. Thomas Paine painrightsmen Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence. Thomas Paine innocencegovernmentdresses ...Thomas did not believe the resurrection [John 20:25], and, as they say, would not believe without having ocular and manual demonstration himself. So neither will I, and the reason is equally as good for me, and for every other person, as for Thomas. Thomas Paine resurrectionbelievereligion Some people can be reasoned into sense, and others must be shocked into it. Thomas Paine ethicsmoralitypeople 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 biblicallyingreligion To believe that God created a plurality of worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the Christian faith at once little and ridiculous; and scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air. Thomas Paine starschristianbelieve That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. Thomas Paine democracypainappreciation An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. Thomas Paine libertylawmen As property, honestly obtained, is best secured by an equality of rights, so ill-gotten property depends for protection on a monopoly of rights. He who has robbed another of his property, will next endeavor to disarm him of his rights, to secure that property; for when the robber becomes the legislator he believes himself secure. Thomas Paine politicalrightsbelieve The declaration which says that God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children is contrary to every principle of moral justice. Thomas Paine justicefatherchildren It is not a God, just and good, but a devil, under the name of God, that the Bible describes. Thomas Paine devilfake-peoplenames I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. Thomas Paine painatheistfear
