Thomas Paine

A French bastard landing with an armed Banditti and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it.

And as to you, Sir, treacherous in private friendship (for so you have been to me, and that in the day of danger) and a hypocrite in public life, the world will be puzzled to decide whether you are an apostate or an impostor, whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever had any.

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

These are the times that try men's souls.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.

The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.

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

The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related, that it is difficult to class them separately.

The duty of a true patriot is to protect his country from its government.

The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected.

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

The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act.

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

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

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.

The trade of governing has always been an alliance of kings, priests, and soldiers.

To say that any People are not fit for Freedom, is to make the same excuse which every Tyrant has used for his Tyranny.

The present state of things is the effect of a long series of revolutions in the mind, rather than a sudden change in the affairs of the world.

All religions are in their nature mild and benign, and it is only when they are made the instruments of political power that they become sanguinary and oppressive.