Thomas Paine

"Hereditary succession is a burlesque upon monarchy."

"Every religion is good that teaches man to be good."

"The principles of all conduct ought not to be in the man but above him."

"It is forbidden to prevent others from saying what they think."

"I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace."

"Many a man has taken the last enemy that shall be vanquished, and that is death, and made him his companion."

"Thought, like the eye, must have an object; the moment we close it without an object, there is nothing."

"Taxation without representation is tyranny."

"Knowledge is power, and power is freedom."

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

"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."

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

"The greatest service that can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture."

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

"The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark."

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

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

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

"There is something exceedingly interesting to the human mind in the adventure."

"My mind is my own church."

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

"The true and only heaven is liberty."

"Suspicion is the companion of mean souls."

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

"It is an affront to treat falsehood with complacence."

"Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system."

"The greatest achiever is not he who never failed, but he who never gave up."

"To argue with a man who has renounced his reason is like administering medicine to the dead."

"Leisure is the time for doing something useful."