Politics Quotes by Thomas Paine

A government of our own is our natural right

— Thomas Paine

To take away (voting) is to reduce a man to slavery.

— Thomas Paine

Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence.

— Thomas Paine

It is unpleasant to see character throw itself away.

— Thomas Paine

Government is a necessary evil

— Thomas Paine

Government is best which governs least

— Thomas Paine

The guilt of a government is the crime of a whole country.

— Thomas Paine

Governments arise either out of the people or over the people.

— Thomas Paine

A little matter will move a party, but it must be something great that moves a nation.

— Thomas Paine

Lay then the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind.

— Thomas Paine

It has been the political career of this man to begin with hypocrisy, proceed with arrogance, and finish with contempt

— Thomas Paine

“Man is not the enemy of man, but through the medium of a false system of Government.”

— Thomas Paine

To possess ourselves of a clear idea of what government is, or ought to be, we must trace it to its origin.

— Thomas Paine

It is painful to behold a man employing his talents to corrupt himself.

— Thomas Paine

Wisdom degenerates in governments as governments increase in age.

— Thomas Paine

Whatever has a tendency to promote the civil intercourse of nations by an exchange of benefits is a subject as worthy of…

— Thomas Paine

“A government or an administration, who means and acts honestly, has nothing to fear, and consequently has nothing to conceal;”

— Thomas Paine

“Let them call me a rebel and welcome. I feel no concern from it. But should I suffer the misery of devils,…

— Thomas Paine

We repose an unwise confidence in any government, or in any men, when we invest them officially with too much, or an…

— Thomas Paine

When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind…

— Thomas Paine

“To reason with governments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves…

— Thomas Paine

“That in which every man is interested, is every man's duty to support. And any burden which falls equally on all men,…

— Thomas Paine

In the progress of politics, as in the common occurrences of life, we are not only apt to forget the ground we…

— Thomas Paine

“The answer of Solon on the question, 'Which is the most perfect popular govemment,' has never been exceeded by any man since…

— Thomas Paine

Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only…

— Thomas Paine

“for as we are never in a proper condition of doing justice to others, while we continue under the influence of some…

— Thomas Paine

Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst…

— Thomas Paine

The continual whine of lamenting the burden of taxes, however successfully it may be practiced in mixed governments, is inconsistent with the…

— Thomas Paine

It has been the scheme of the Christian Church, and of all the other invented systems of religion, to hold man in…

— Thomas Paine

A government on the principles on which constitutional governments arising out of society are established, cannot have the right of altering itself.…

— Thomas Paine

Each government accuses the other of perfidy, intrigue and ambition, as a means of heating the imagination of their respective nations, and…

— Thomas Paine

As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may…

— Thomas Paine

“In the progress of politics, as in the common occurrences of life, we are not only apt to forget the ground we…

— Thomas Paine

When the rich plunder the poor of his rights, it becomes an example for the poor to plunder the rich of his…

— Thomas Paine

“To understand the nature and quantity of government proper for man, it is necessary to attend to his character. As Nature created…

— Thomas Paine

“Whatever is the cause of taxes to a Nation, becomes also the means of revenue to Government. Every war terminates with an…

— Thomas Paine

“Nothing can appear more contradictory than the principles on which the old governments began, and the condition to which society, civilisation and…

— Thomas Paine

“A constitution is not a thing in name only, but in fact. It has not an ideal, but a real existence; and…

— Thomas Paine

“As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can…

— Thomas Paine

War is the gambling table of governments, and citizens the dupes of the game.

— Thomas Paine