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Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine Quotes

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Famous Thomas Paine Quotes

“That which is now called natural philosophy, embracing the whole circle of science, of which astronomy occupies the chief place, is the study of the works of God, and of the power and wisdom of God in his works, and is the true theology. As to the theology that is now studied in its place, it is the study of human opinions and of human fancies concerning God. It is not the study of God himself in the works that he has made, but in the works or writings that man has made; and it is not among the least of the mischiefs that the Christian system has done to the world, that it has abandoned the original and beautiful system of theology, like a beautiful innocent, to distress and reproach, to make room for the hag of superstition.”

ReasonReligionTheology
Book:The age of reason
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“If I owe a person money, and cannot pay him, and he threatens to put me in prison, another person can take the debt upon himself, and pay it for me. But if I have committed a crime, every circumstance of the case is changed. Moral justice cannot take the innocent for the guilty even if the innocent would offer itself. To suppose justice to do this, is to destroy the principles of its existence, which is the thing itself. It is then no longer justice. It is indiscriminate revenge. This single reflection will show that the doctrine of redemption is founded on a mere pecuniary idea corresponding to that of a debt which another person might pay; and as this pecuniary idea corresponds again with the system of second redemptions, obtained through the means of money given to the church for pardons, the probability is that the same persons fabricated both the one and the other of those theories; and that, in truth, there is no such thing as redemption; that it is fabulous; and that man stands in the same relative condition with his Maker he ever did stand, since man existed; and that it is his greatest consolation to think so. Let him believe this, and he will live more consistently and morally, than by any other system. It is by his being taught to contemplate himself as an out-law, as an out-cast, as a beggar, as a mumper, as one thrown as it were on a dunghill, at an immense distance from his Creator, and who must make his approaches by creeping, and cringing to intermediate beings, that he conceives either a contemptuous disregard for everything under the name of religion, or becomes indifferent, or turns what he calls devout. In the latter case, he consumes his life in grief, or the affection of it. His prayers are reproaches. His humility is ingratitude. He calls himself a worm, and the fertile earth a dunghill; and all the blessings of life by the thankless name of vanities. He despises the choicest gift of God to man, the GIFT OF REASON; and having endeavored to force upon himself the belief of a system against which reason revolts, he ungratefully calls it human reason, as if man could give reason to himself. Yet, with all this strange appearance of humility, and this contempt for human reason, he ventures into the boldest presumptions. He finds fault with everything. His selfishness is never satisfied; his ingratitude is never at an end. He takes on himself to direct the Almighty what to do, even in the government of the universe. He prays dictatorially. When it is sunshine, he prays for rain, and when it is rain, he prays for sunshine. He follows the same idea in everything that he prays for; for what is the amount of all his prayers, but an attempt to make the Almighty change his mind, and act otherwise than he does? It is as if he were to say - thou knowest not so well as I.”

ReasonReligion
Book:The age of reason
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“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 religion. It has been the most dishonourable belief against the character of the divinity, the most destructive to morality, and the peace and happiness of man, that ever was propagated since man began to exist. It is better, far better, that we admitted, if it were possible, a thousand devils to roam at large, and to preach publicly the doctrine of devils, if there were any such, than that we permitted one such impostor and monster as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the Bible prophets, to come with the pretended word of God in his mouth, and have credit among us. Whence arose all the horrid assassinations of whole nations of men, women, and infants, with which the Bible is filled; and the bloody persecutions, and tortures unto death and religious wars, that since that time have laid Europe in blood and ashes; whence arose they, but from this impious thing called revealed religion, and this monstrous belief that God has spoken to man? The lies of the Bible have been the cause of the one, and the lies of the Testament of the other.”

WarHappinessDeathReligionBeliefPeaceBloodMoralityBibleEuropeLiesMiseryCreditDoctrineCrueltyTortureWord Of GodAshesTestamentAfflictionWickednessMosesMonsterRevelationOriginThe BibleReligious WarsProphetsDevilsJoshuaImpostorSamuelAssassinationsDetestablePersecutionsHorridDishonourableRevealed Religion
Book:The age of reason
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“I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church. 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.”

ReligionChurchPowerProfitGreekJewishTurkishRomanCreedProtestantEnslaveMonopolizeHuman Invention
Book:The age of reason
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“The Bible: a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalise mankind.”

ReligionAtheismMankindAtheistPositive AtheismWord Of GodWickednessChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateOur Founding FathersFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersObsceneFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousReligion GodFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistAnti ReligiousDeismChristianity From Founding FathersChristian AtheistReligion ChristianDebaucheryAnti ChristianUnrelentingChristian RightVoluptuousAge Of ReasonFaith ReligionSubtle AtheistVindictivenessJewish Religion
Book:The Age of Reason, etc
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“Practical religion consists in doing good: and the only way of serving God is that of endeavoring to make His creation happy. All preaching that has not this for its object is nonsense and hypocrisy.”

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Book:Citizen Paine: Thomas Paine's Thoughts on Man, Government, Society, and Religion
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“Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication- after that 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 can not 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.”

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Book:The Age of Reason, etc
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“It will be proper to take a review of the several sources from which governments have arisen, and on which they have been founded.”

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Book:The Thomas Paine Collection: Common Sense, Rights of Man, Age of Reason, An Essay on Dream, Biblical Blasphemy, Examination Of The Prophecies
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“They may be all comprehended under three heads - 1st, Superstition; 2d, Power; 3d, the common interests of society, and the common rights of man.”

MenMayReligionThreeInterestCommonRightsSuperstitionsCommon Interests
Book:The Political Writings of Thomas Paine ...: Prospects on the Rubicon. Rights of man, part I. Rights of man, part II. Letter to the authors of the Republican. Letter to the Abbe Sieyes. Address to the addressers. Letters to Lord Onslow. Dissertation on the first principles of government. Speech delivered in the French National convention. Letter to Mr. Secretary Dundas. The decline and fall of the English system of finance. Letter to the people of France. Reasons for preserving the life of Louis
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“The first was a government of priestcraft, the second of conquerors, and the third of reason.”

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Book:The Political Writings of Thomas Paine ...: Prospects on the Rubicon. Rights of man, part I. Rights of man, part II. Letter to the authors of the Republican. Letter to the Abbe Sieyes. Address to the addressers. Letters to Lord Onslow. Dissertation on the first principles of government. Speech delivered in the French National convention. Letter to Mr. Secretary Dundas. The decline and fall of the English system of finance. Letter to the people of France. Reasons for preserving the life of Louis
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“Toleration is not the opposite of intoleration, but it is the counterfeit of it. Both are despotisms. The one assumes to itself the right of withholding liberty of conscience, and the other of granting it. The one is the pope, armed with fire and fagot, and the other is the pope selling or granting indulgences.”

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Book:Complete Works
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“Whence arose all the horrid assassinations of whole nations of men, women, and infants, with which the Bible is filled; and the bloody persecutions, and tortures unto death, and religiosu wars, that since that time have laid Europe in blood and ashes; whence arose they, but from this impious thing called religion, and this monstrous belief that God has spoken to man?”

MenWarWholeReligionBeliefNationsBloodEuropeFilledTortureAshesBloodyPersecutionInfantMen WomenMonstrousAssassination
Book:The Theological Works of Thomas Paine
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“Everything wonderful in appearance has been ascribed to angels, to devils, or to saints. Everything ancient has some legendary tale annexed to it. The common operations of nature have not escaped their practice of corrupting everything.”

Has BeensReligionCommonPracticeWonderfulDevilAngelAncientSaintAppearanceTalesOperationsLegendary
Book:The Works of Thomas Paine: A Hero in the American Revolution. With an Account of His Life ...
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“But though every created thing is, in this sense, a mystery, the word mystery cannot be applied to moral truth, any more than obscurity can be applied to light. ... Mystery is the antagonist of truth. It is a fog of human invention, that obscures truth, and represents it in distortion. Truth never envelops itself in mystery, and the mystery in which it is at any time enveloped is the work of its antagonist, and never of itself.”

HumansLightReligionMoralMysteryInventionFogObscurityDistortionAntagonistHuman Inventions
Book:The Writings of Thomas Paine
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“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.”

InspirationalHumansChristianPainReligionChurchAtheismMankindInstitutionsAtheistIndividualityProfitScarySeparationInventionSecularReligious FaithChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateOur Founding FathersReligious FreedomFounding Fathers ChristianPhilosophy Of ReligionUs Founding FathersTurkishFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousChristian ChurchFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistReligious PhilosophyDeismReligion And PoliticsChristian AtheistReligion ChristianChristian FatherPhilosophy And ReligionChristian RightAge Of ReasonAgainst ReligionGreatest AtheistHuman InventionsReligion PoliticsChristian Freedom
Book:The Theological Works of Thomas Paine
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“Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.”

ChristianReligionReligiousAtheismWorstMankindAtheistTyrannySecularOur Founding FathersFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers ReligionFounding Fathers ReligiousFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistChristian AtheistAgainst ReligionAnti AtheistTyranny Founding Fathers
Author: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.”

LawMotivationReligionChurchAtheismOriginalsSeparationFeaturesPersecutionChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateOur Founding FathersFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousChristian ChurchFounding Fathers Anti ReligionChristian FatherAge Of ReasonReligious PersecutionHate ReligionChristian Persecution
Author:Thomas Paine
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“Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid or produces only atheists or fanatics. As an engine of power, it serves the purpose of despotism, and as a means of wealth, the avarice of priests, but so far as respects the good of man in general it leads to nothing here or hereafter.”

MenHeartMeanReasonPurposeReligionBeliefWealthChristianityPracticeImpossibleProduceAtheistAbsurdConvincePriestsEnginesAlmightyContradictoryFanaticsHereafterAvariceDespotismInconsistentChristian TheologyDerogatory
Author:Thomas Paine
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“I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.”

KnowsMindBelievePainReligionBeliefFearChurchMy OwnAtheismAtheistRageGreekCreedsSecularAgnosticReligious FaithChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateProtestantsOur Founding FathersReligious FreedomFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersTurkishFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistAnti ReligiousDeismChristian AtheistReligion And GovernmentChristian RightAge Of ReasonAgainst ReligionGreatest AtheistChristian FreedomReligious HistoryReligious Values
Book:The Theological Works of Thomas Paine
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“Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.”

IfsMenMindBelieveMayDoeLyingReligionBeliefMoralImpossibleSocietyCrimePreparedHypocrisyInfidelityMischiefChastityHonest TruthReligion And GovernmentAge Of Reason
Book:The Thomas Paine Collection: Common Sense, Rights of Man, Age of Reason, An Essay on Dream, Biblical Blasphemy, Examination Of The Prophecies
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“It is far better that we admitted a thousand devils to roam at large than that we permitted one such imposter and monster as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the Bible prophets, to come with the pretended word of God and have credit among us.”

ReligionThousandDevilCreditMonstersProphetWord Of GodMosesImposter
Book:The Theological Works of Thomas Paine: The Most Complete Edition Ever Published
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“Take away from Genesis the belief that Moses was the author, on which only the strange believe that it is the word of God has stood, and there remains nothing of Genesis but an anonymous book of stories, fables, and traditionary or invented absurdities, or of downright lies.”

BelieveBookStoriesLyingReligionBeliefStrangeRemainsWord Of GodAbsurdityMosesGenesisSeparation Of Church And StateFablesOur Founding FathersFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers ReligiousFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersReligion And GovernmentAgainst Religion
Book:THOMAS PAINE Ultimate Collection: Political Works, Philosophical Writings, Speeches, Letters & Biography (Including Common Sense, The Rights of Man & The Age of Reason): The American Crisis, The Constitution of 1795, Declaration of Rights, Agrarian Justice, The Republican Proclamation, Anti-Monarchal Essay, Letters to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington…
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“The story of Jesus Christ appearing after he was dead is the story of an apparition, such as timid imaginations can always create in vision, and credulity believe. Stories of this kind had been told of the assassination of Julius Caesar.”

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Book:The Theological Works of Thomas Paine: To which are Added the Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar
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“What is it the Bible teaches us? - raping, cruelty, and murder. What is it the New Testament teaches us? - to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.”

BelieveReligionBeliefTeachAtheismMarriedBibleMurderCommittedCrueltyEngagedAlmightyTestamentBeing MarriedNew TestamentOur Founding FathersReligious BeliefFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers ReligiousFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistDebaucheryAge Of Reason
Author:Thomas Paine
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“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize humankind.”

StoriesWould BeReligionReligiousHalfBibleFilledDemonConsistentWord Of GodHumankindExecutionWickednessChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateAtrocitiesOur Founding FathersFounding Fathers ChristianUs Founding FathersObsceneFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousReligion GodFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistAnti ReligiousDeismChristianity From Founding FathersChristian AtheistReligion ChristianDebaucheryAnti ChristianUnrelentingChristian RightVoluptuousAge Of ReasonFaith ReligionChristian GodAnti GodVindictivenessReligious HistoryCalled By GodJewish ReligionEvil God
Book:The age of reason
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