Thomas Paine Quotes – Inspiring Words from an American Revolutionary

The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.

These are the times that try men’s souls.

I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.

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

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

Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

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

The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.

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

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

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

He who dares not offend cannot be honest.

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

The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.

The greatest remedy for anger is delay.

The cause of America is the cause of all mankind.

The mind, once enlightened, cannot again become dark.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

Thomas Paine Quotes – Inspiring Words from an American Revolutionary part 2

Character is much easier kept than recovered.

I love the man that can smile in trouble.

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

When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.

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

Every man is his own friend while he utters something which, has in it a pleasant sound. How easy is self-approbation!

The fact, therefore, must be that the individuals themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a contract with each other to produce a government; and this is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to exist.

It is not a nation, but a neighbourhood that is to be governed.

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.

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

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.

Small islands, not capable of protecting themselves, are the proper objects for kingdoms to take under their care.

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

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

Great object of sociability is to be also mutual security.

Character is easier kept than recovered.

Suspicion is the companion of mean souls.

These are times that try men’s souls.

When men are encouraged to live in a state of the grossest ignorance, the society is in the most malignant state.

Suspicion is a virtue as long as its object is the public good, and as long as it stays within proper bounds.

He who wishes to strike at a king, must kill him in the dark.

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

A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.

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