45 Famous Quotes by Thomas Paine
1/29/1737 - 6/8/1809
Also Known As:
Thomas Pain
Professions:
Information:
About Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was an English-American political activist, author, political theorist and revolutionary. As the author of two highly influential pamphlets at the start of the American Revolution, he inspired the Patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Britain. His ideas reflected Enlightenment era rhetoric of transnational human rights. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination."
Born in Thetford, England, in the county of Norfolk, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin and he arrived in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense, the all-time best-selling American book that advocated colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis, a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series. Common Sense was so influential that John Adams said, "Without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”
Paine lived in France for most of the 1790s, becoming deeply involved in the French Revolution. He wrote the Rights of Man, in part a defence of the French Revolution against its critics. His attacks on British writer Edmund Burke led to a trial and conviction in absentia in 1792 for the crime of seditious libel. In 1792, despite not speaking French, he was elected to the French National Convention. The Girondists regarded him as an ally. Consequently, the Montagnards, especially Robespierre, regarded him as an enemy.
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I die content, I die for the liberty of my country.
[Fr., Je meurs content, je meurs pour la liberte de mon pays.]
Patriotism
Quotes, by Thomas Paine , Source: Rights of Man (ch. V)
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It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.
Infidelity
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow
Overcoming
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law
Persecution
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Principles
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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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
Reflection
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion
Theology
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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The sublime and ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is
difficult to class them separately. One step below the sublime
makes the ridiculous and one step above the ridiculous makes the
sublime again.
Ridicule
Quotes, by Thomas Paine , Source: The Age of Reason (pt. II)
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The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; 'Tis dearness only that gives everything its value.
Obstacles
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and row brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Courage
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
Politics / government
Quotes, by Thomas Paine
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