“Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first a patron, the last a punisher.”
– Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

“The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit of liberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determined not to be slaves themselves, they employed their power to enslave the rest of mankind.”
– Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 5, March 21, 1778

“He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”
– Thomas Paine, Dissertation on First Principles of Government, December 23, 1791

“[A] bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.”
–Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1791

“Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
– Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

“Not all the treasures of the world, so far as I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder; but if a thief breaks into my house, burns and destroys my property, and kills or threatens to kill me, or those that are in it, and to ‘bind me in all cases whatsoever’ to his absolute will, am I to suffer it?”
–Thomas Paine, The American Crises, No. 1, 1776

“When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.”
– Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

“Mingling religion with politics may be disavowed and reprobated by every inhabitant of America.”
– Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

“In the early ages of the world, according to the Scripture chronology there were no kings; the consequence of which was, there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throws mankind into confusion.”
– Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”
– Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. I (written 19 December 1776, published 23 December 1776)

“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.”
– Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. I

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
– Thomas Paine, The Crisis No. IV

“I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.”
– Thomas Paine, Age of Reason, Part I (1793)

“All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.”
– Thomas Paine, Age of Reason, Part I (1793)

“It is a contradiction in terms and ideas to call anything a revelation that comes to us at second hand, either verbally or in writing. Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication. After this, it is only an account of something which that person says was a revelation made to him; and though he may find himself obliged to believe it, it cannot be incumbent on me to believe it in the same manner, for it was not a revelation made to me, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him.”
– Thomas Paine, Age of Reason, Part I (1793)

“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”
– Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791)

Misattributed or Unsourced:

“That government is best which governs least.”
– Thomas Paine, misattributed: Henry David Thoreau paraphrasing the motto of “The United States Magazine and Democratic Review”