Thomas Paine: Trending quotes (page 13)

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“Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.”

Part 1.7 Conclusion
1790s, Rights of Man, Part I (1791)
Context: Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of Government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.

“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.”

The Forester's Letters http://www.bartleby.com/184/117.html, Letter III—'To Cato', Pennsylvania Journal (24 April 1776)
1770s

“My own mind is my own church.”

Source: The Age of Reason

“Give me liberty, or give me death.”

Source: Common Sense

“Time makes more converts than reason.”

Source: Common Sense

“A body of men, holding themselves accountable to nobody, ought not to be trusted by any body.”

Part 1.3 Rights of Man
1790s, Rights of Man, Part I (1791)

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness”

1770s, Common Sense (1776)
Context: Society is produced by our wants, and government by 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 is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil.