Thomas Paine Quotes | GloryQuotes

Thomas Paine Quotes About Spiritual

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

Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.

Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law.

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

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

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

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

Thomas Paine Quotes About Freedom

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

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

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

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.

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.

More Quotes by Thomas Paine

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.

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

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

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

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

The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.

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

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

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

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

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

An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.

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

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

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

Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one's own efforts.

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.

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

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.

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.

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.

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.

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.

If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.

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

The Vatican is a dagger in the heart of Italy.

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.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

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.

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

'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.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

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

These are the times that try men's souls.

It is an affront to treat falsehood with complaisance.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Time makes more converts than reason.

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.

My mind is my own church.

Browse 66 quotes attributed to Thomas Paine, listed in the source data as a English Writer, organized around themes such as Spiritual, Freedom, War. Use the topic links to explore similar quotes, or browse the full author collection in one place.