Thomas Paine

"I do not believe it is for the benefit of the multitude that such a number of people should be reduced to absolute poverty."

"The proper study of mankind is man."

"Wisdom and virtue are the only foundation of eternal happiness."

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

"It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself."

"The greatest remedy for anger is delay."

"My own mind is my own church."

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression."

"When we are about to die, all medicines are lawful."

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

"The palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise."

"Better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigues of supporting it."

"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."

"The instant formal government is gone, society begins to act."

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

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

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

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

"I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine."

"The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark."

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing."

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

"The study of true politics is the knowledge of the rights of man."

"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government."

"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God."

"The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, but the kind of man the country produces."

"There is a natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a treasure."

"Many of the great discoveries have been made by young people. It is not always the man who has lived the longest who has learned the most."