Thomas Paine

"The great object of my life has been to do as much good as possible to the world."

"I defend the Bible not as a book dropped from the clouds but as a production of men."

"The crisis is arrived and we are called upon by every circumstance to decide."

"My principle is to do whatever is right and just."

"Nations may be ranked among themselves by the condition of their poor."

"The undeserved miseries brought upon the world by superstition would make a volume as thick as the Bible."

"It is the duty of every true friend of mankind to use all the rational and moral means to promote the happiness of society."

"A man may own property, but not his liberty."

"We must guard against the impositions of pretended patriotism."

"The success of our struggle does not depend upon individual heroism but upon the united strength of the people."

"It is not the concern of science to act on the wishes of men, but to learn the nature of things."

"The American Revolution opened a new scene in the history of mankind."

"A thought that suddenly occurs to you is worth more than hours of deliberation."

"Trade is not secondary to freedom but essential to it."

"The true republic will be when every man thinks his own thoughts and speaks his own thoughts."

"That is not a true government which does not measure itself by universal justice."

"I have always strenuously contended that every individual has a natural right to adopt any opinion and to act by any opinion."

"The advancement of the human species should be the object of every government."

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

"A work of art should speak for itself without the aid of printed word or studied explanation."

"It is the duty of every true friend of human nature and human happiness to promote and defend the cause of universal truth."

"When once the principles of right and wrong are understood, the most foolish cannot mistake them."

"The human heart refuses to believe in a universe without a purpose."

"My religion is to do good and my prayer a desire to see the world at peace."

"An army of principles will penetrate where soldiers cannot march."

"Society needs only a few laws, but it needs them to be just."

"The ability to think deeply is the foundation of all human progress."

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

"A nation founded on the principles of liberty cannot long endure if it abandons those principles."

"The real strength of any government lies in the virtue and intelligence of its people."