Thomas Paine

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

“And here, without anger or resentment, I bid you farewell. Sincerely wishing, that as men and Christians, ye may always fully and uninterruptedly enjoy every civil and religious right, and b...”

“The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries that have afflicted the human race, have had their origin in this thing called revelation or revealed rel...”

“Later times have laid all the blame upon the Goths and Vandals, but, however unwilling the partizans of the Christian system may be to believe or to acknowledge it, it is nevertheless true,...”

“It is impossible to derive happiness from the company of those whom we deprive of happiness. To be happy in old age it is necessary that we accustom ourselves to objects than can accompany t...”

“Each of those churches shows certain books, which they call revelation, or the Word of God. The Jews say that their Word of God was given by God to Moses face to face; the Christians say, th...”

“The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.”

“To establish any mode to abolish war, however advantageous it might be to Nations, would be to take from such Government the most lucrative of its branches.”

“The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.”

“Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities.”

“There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord.”

“Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one's own efforts.”

“It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the consequences will be the same.”

“Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.”

“It is an affront to treat falsehood with complaisance.”

“The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason.”

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

“Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”

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

“But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.”