We are so naturally inclined to give the utmost degree of force to our own case, that we call every pretension, however founded, a right; and by this means the term frequently stands opposed to justice and reason.
Thomas Paine, Public Good, December 30, 1780
Call not coldness of soul, religion; nor put the Bigot in the place of the Christian.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
Something that came to mind again after reading about politicians from the “Christian” Right wanting more cuts in welfare programs.
The bible of the creation is inexhaustible in texts. Every part of science, whether connected with the geometry of the universe, with the systems of animal and vegetable life, or with the properties of inanimate matter, is a text as well for devotion as for philosophy; for gratitude, as for human improvement. It will perhaps be said, that if such a revolution in the system of religion take place, that every preacher ought to be a philosopher. Most certainly; and every house of devotion, a school of science.
Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason Part Two, 1795
As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensible duty of all government, to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, February 14, 1776
This is indeed common sense.
A man would be ashamed to be told that he signed a petition, praying that he might pay less than his share of the public expence, or that those who had trusted the public might never receive their money; yet he does the same thing when he petitions against taxation, and the only difference is, that by taking shelter under the name, he see,s to conceal the meanness he would otherwise blush at. Is it popular to pay our debts, to do justice, to defend an injured and insulted country, to protect the aged and the infant, and to give to Liberty a land to live in? then must taxation, as the means by which those things are to be done, be popular likewise.
Thomas Paine, The Necessity of Taxation, April 4, 1782
Misfortune and experience are lost upon mankind when they produce neither reflection nor reformation.
Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. 7, November 11, 1778
Tumblr seems to have “fixed” something that wasn’t broken. Can I have the old comment format back, please?
Civil government does not consist in executions; but in making that provision for the instruction of youth, and the support of age, as to exclude, as much as possible, profligacy from the one, and despair from the other.
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, Part Two, 1792
I’m sure I’ve used it before, but it’s a sentiment I like.
I am not one of those who are fond of believing there is much of that which is called wilful lying, or lying originally, except in the case of men setting up to be prophets, as in the old testament, for prophesying is lying professionally.
Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason Part Two, 1795
I’m going to have to part company with Paine. I wish he was right, but the willful lying is inescapable.
To preserve the benefits of what is called civilized life, and to remedy, at the same time, the evils it has produced, ought to be considered as one of the first objects of reformed legislation.
Thomas Paine, Agrarian Justice, 1797
On proposing a progressive tax
The object is not so much the produce of the tax, as the justice of the measure. The aristocracy has screened itself too much, and this serves to restore a part of the lost equilibrium.
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, Part Two, 1792
