Lay then the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind. — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
To possess ourselves of a clear idea of what government is, or ought to be, we must trace it to its origin. — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“Man is not the enemy of man, but through the medium of a false system of Government.” — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
It is important that we should never lose sight of this distinction. We must not confuse the peoples with their governments... — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
There is existing in man, a mass of sense lying in a dormant state. The construction of government ought to be such… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
It will be proper to take a review of the several sources from which governments have arisen, and on which they have… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security. — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
To establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
That there are men in all countries who get their living by war, and by keeping up the quarrels of nations, is… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
In the first part of 'Rights of Man' I have endeavoured to show...that there does not exist a right to establish hereditary… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
We still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry and grasping at the spoil… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
...the individuals themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a compact with each other to produce a government:… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
A government of our own is our natural right; and when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“I have shown in all the foregoing parts of this work that the Bible and Testament are impositions and forgeries; and I… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
When extraordinary power and extraordinary pay are allotted to any individual in a government, he becomes the center, round which every kind… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“A government or an administration, who means and acts honestly, has nothing to fear, and consequently has nothing to conceal;” — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
We repose an unwise confidence in any government, or in any men, when we invest them officially with too much, or an… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
And as a man, who is attached to a prostitute, is unfitted to choose or judge of a wife, so any prepossession… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Change of ministers amounts to nothing. One goes out, another comes in, and still the same measures, vices, and extravagances are pursued.… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness. Society promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, government negatively… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Government has no right to make itself a party in any debates respecting the principles or mode of forming or of changing,… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Great part of that order which reigns among mankind is not the effect of government. It has its origin in the principles… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarcy, that in… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
In reviewing the history of the English Government, its wars and its taxes, a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Government ought to be as much open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of which it has been monopolized… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
It can only be by blinding the understanding of man, and making him believe that government is some wonderful mysterious thing, that… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
A constitution, therefore, is to a government what the laws made afterwards by that government are to a court of judicature. The… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
Uncritical reverence for the Founding Fathers was less ubiquitous while they actually lived. . . . "The Reign of Terror that raged… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“The answer of Solon on the question, 'Which is the most perfect popular govemment,' has never been exceeded by any man since… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is… — Thomas Paine Copy Share Image
“No man is prejudiced in favour of a thing, knowing it to be wrong. He is attached to it on the belief of its… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
The book called the Bible has been voted by men, and decreed by human laws to be the word of God; and the disbelief… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead. — Thomas Paine Copy Share
One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vulgar absurdities as Scripture religion is could never have obtained credit; yet we… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
What is it the Bible teaches us? - raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? - to believe that… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. — Thomas Paine Copy Share
“It has been the practice of all Christian commentators on the Bible, and of all Christian priests and preachers, to impose the Bible on… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
Our citizenship in the United States is our national character. Our citizenship in any particular state is only our local distinction. By the latter… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society. — Thomas Paine Copy Share
“To pass from the extremes of danger to safety-from the tumult of war to the tranquility of peace, though sweet in contemplation, requires a… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
What more does man want to know than that the hand or power that made these things is divine, is omnipotent? Let him believe… — Thomas Paine Copy Share
