Background Image
Natural Rights Are Those Which Always Appertain To Man In Right Of His Existence. Of This Kind Are All The Intellectual Rights, Or Rights Of The Mind, And Also All Those Rights Of Acting As An Individual For His Own Comfort And Happiness, Which Are Not Injurious To The Rights Of Others.
-Thomas Paine
Please Wait....
Translating....

Natural Rights Are Those

Thomas Paine
Natural Rights Are Those Which Always Appertain To Man In Right Of His Existence. Of This Kind Are All The Intellectual Rights, Or Rights Of The Mind, And Also All Those Rights Of Acting As An Individual For His Own Comfort And Happiness, Which Are Not Injurious To The Rights Of Others.
Views: 4
Topic
Men
Rights
Mind
More From Thomas Paine
The First Was A Government Of Priestcraft, The Second Of Conquerors, And The Third Of Reason.
Government
Religion
Firsts
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.
Believe
Communication
Religion
Beware The Greedy Hand Of Government Thrusting Itself Into Every Corner And Crevice Of Industry.
Government
Hands
Taxation
Arms, Like Laws, Discourage And Keep The Invader And Plunderer In Awe And Preserve Order.
Gun
Order
Law
Human Language Is Local And Changeable, And Is Therefore Incapable Of Being Used As The Means Of Unchangeable And Universal Information.
Mean
Information
Language
The New Testament, They Tell Us, Is Founded Upon The Prophecies Of The Old; If So, It Must Follow The Fate Of Its Foundation.
Fate
Religion
Foundation
Is It Because You Are Sunk In The Cruelty Of Superstition, Or Feel No Interest In The Honor Of Your Creator, That You Listen To The Horrid Tales Of The Bible, Or Hear Them With Callous Indifference?
Honor
Superstitions
Indifference
It Is With A Pious Fraud As With A Bad Action; It Begets A Calamitous Necessity Of Going On.
Action
Fraud
Begets
The Moral Duty Of Man Consists Of Imitating The Moral Goodness And Beneficence Of God, Manifested In The Creation Towards All His Creatures. Everything Of Persecution And Revenge Between Man And Man, And Everything Of Cruelty To Animals Is A Violation Of Moral Duty
Revenge
Animal
Men
When Authors And Critics Talk Of The Sublime, They See Not How Nearly It Borders On The Ridiculous.
Sublime
Borders
Ridiculous
The Most Horrible Wickedness And Cruelties, And The Greatest Miseries That Have Troubled The Human Race Began With This Thing Called Revelation, Or Revealed Religion. ... It Would Be Far, Far Better For Us To Let A Thousand Devils Roam The World, And Publicly Preach The Doctrine Of Devils (if There Were Such A Thing, Which There Isn't), Than To Let One Impostor And Monster Such A Moses, Joshua, Samuel Or The Bible Prophets Come Speaking The So-called Word Of God, And Causing Men To Believe It.
Believe
Men
Race
It Is Not The Nature Of Avarice To Be Satisfied With Anything But Money. Every Passion That Acts Upon Mankind Has A Peculiar Mode Of Operation. Many Of Them Are Temporary And Fluctuating; They Admit Of Cessation And Variety. But Avarice Is A Fixed, Uniform Passion.
Passion
Peculiar
Uniforms
Civil Rights Are Those Which Appertain To Man In Right Of His Being A Member Of Society. Every Civil Right Has For Its Foundation Some Natural Right Pre-existing In The Individual, But To The Enjoyment Of Which His Individual Power Is Not, In All Cases, Sufficiently Competent. Of This Kind Are All Those Which Relate To Security And Protection.
Men
Rights
Individual Power
Not A Place Upon Earth Might Be So Happy As America. Her Situation Is Remote From All The Wrangling World, And She Has Nothing To Do But To Trade With Them.
Happiness
America
Liberty
Had The News Of Salvation By Jesus Christ Been Inscribed On The Face Of The Sun And The Moon, In Characters That All Nations Would Have Understood, The Whole Earth Had Known It In Twenty-four Hours, And All Nations Would Have Believed It; Whereas, Though It Is Now Almost Two Thousand Years Since, As They Tell Us, Christ Came Upon Earth, Not A Twentieth Part Of The People Of The Earth Know Anything Of It, And Among Those Who Do, The Wiser Part Do Not Believe It.
Jesus
Believe
Character
The Mere Man Of Pleasure Is Miserable In Old Age, And The Mere Drudge In Business Is But Little Better, Whereas, Natural Philosophy, Mathematical And Mechanical Science, Are A Continual Source Of Tranquil Pleasure, And In Spite Of The Gloomy Dogmas Of Priests And Of Superstition, The Study Of These Things Is The True Theology; It Teaches Man To Know And Admire The Creator, For The Principles Of Science Are In The Creation, And Are Unchangeable And Of Divine Origin.
Philosophy
Knowledge
Science
Mutual Fear Is A Principal Link In The Chain Of Mutual Love.
Fear
Mutual Love
Links
Immediate Necessity Makes Many Things Convenient, Which If Continued Would Grow Into Oppressions.
Oppression
Grows
Convenient
A Man Will Pass Better Through The World With A Thousand Open Errors Upon His Back Than In Being Detected In One Sly Falsehood. When One Is Detected, A Thousand Are Suspected.
Men
Errors
Atheism
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.
Government
Liberty
Principles
There Never Did, There Never Will, And There Never Can Exist A Parliament, Or Any Description Of Men, Or Any Generation Of Men, In Any Country, Possessed Of The Right Or The Power Of Binding And Controlling Posterity To The 'end Of Time,' Or Of Commanding For Ever How The World Shall Be Governed, Or Who Shall Govern It. Every Age And Generation Must Be As Free To Act For Itself, In All Cases, As The Ages And Generations Which Preceded It.
Country
Men
Age
The Greatest Remedy For Anger Is Delay.
Teacher
Crazy
Anger
The Most Extraordinary Of All The Things Called Miracles, Related In The New Testament, Is That Of The Devil Flying Away With Jesus Christ, And Carrying Him To The Top Of A High Mountain; And To The Top Of The Highest Pinnacle Of The Temple, And Showing Him And Promising To Him All The Kingdoms Of The World . How Happened It That He Did Not Discover America? Or Is It Only With Kingdoms That His Sooty Highness Has Any Interest.
Jesus
America
Miracle
We Ought Therefore To Suspect That A Great Mass Of Information Respecting The Bible, And The Introduction Of It Into The World, Has Been Suppressed By The United Tyranny Of Church And State, For The Purpose Of Keeping People In Ignorance, And Which Ought To Be Known.
Bible
Ignorance
People
As My Object Was Not Myself, I Set Out With The Determination, And Happily With The Disposition, Of Not Being Moved By Praise Or Censure, Friendship Or Calumny, Nor Of Being Drawn From My Purpose By Any Personal Altercation; And The Man Who Cannot Do This, Is Not Fit For A Public Character.
Determination
Character
Men
Paper Money Is Like Dram-drinking, It Relieves For A Moment By Deceitful Sensation, But Gradually Diminishes The Natural Heat, And Leaves The Body Worse Than It Found It. Were Not This The Case, And Could Money Be Made Of Paper At Pleasure, Every Sovereign In Europe Would Be As Rich As He Pleased. But The Truth Is, That It Is A Bubble And The Attempt Vanity. Nature Has Provided The Proper Materials For Money: Gold And Silver, And Any Attempt Of Ours To Rival Her Is Ridiculous.
Drinking
Europe
Vanity
I Fear Not, I See Not Reason For Fear. In The End We Will Be The Victors. For Though At Times The Flame Of Liberty May Cease To Shine, The Ember Will Never Expire.
Flames
Shining
Liberty
Wrong Cannot Have A Legal Descendant.
Descendants
Thus Commerce, Though In Itself A Moral Nullity, Has Had A Considerable Influence In Tempering The Human Mind....he Trades With The Same Countries ...(that He) Would Have Gone To War With.
Country
War
Mind
The Only Idea Man Can Affix To The Name Of God, Is That Of A First Cause, The Cause Of All Things. And, Incomprehensibly Difficult As It Is For A Man To Conceive What A First Cause Is, He Arrives At The Belief Of It, From The Tenfold Greater Difficulty Of Disbelieving It. It Is Difficult Beyond Description To Conceive That Space Can Have No End; But It Is More Difficult To Conceive An End. It Is Difficult Beyond The Power Of Man To Conceive An Eternal Duration Of What We Call Time; But It Is More Impossible To Conceive A Time When There Shall Be No Time.
Men
Names
Ideas
A Government On The Principles On Which Constitutional Governments Arising Out Of Society Are Established, Cannot Have The Right Of Altering Itself. If It Had, It Would Be Arbitrary. It Might Make Itself What It Pleased; And Wherever Such A Right Is Set Up, It Shows There Is No Constitution.
Government
Principles
Would Be
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?
War
Men
Blood
The Christian Religion Begins With A Dream And Ends With A Murder.
Christian
Dream
Religion
The More We Bestow The Richer We Become.
Conservative
The Greatest Tyrannies Are Always Perpetuated In The Name Of The Noblest Causes.
Names
Causes
Tyranny
Money, When Considered As The Fruit Of Many Years' Industry, As The Reward Of Labor, Sweat And Toil, As The Widow's Dowry And Children's Portion, And As The Means Of Procuring The Necessaries And Alleviating The Afflictions Of Life, And Making Old Age A Scene Of Rest, Has Something In It Sacred That Is Not To Be Sported With, Or Trusted To The Airy Bubble Of Paper Currency.
Children
Mean
Years
It Is The Direction And Not The Magnitude Which Is To Be Taken Into Consideration.
Taken
Consideration
Magnitude
I Do Not Believe That Any Two Men, On What Are Called Doctrinal Points, Think Alike Who Think At All. It Is Only Those Who Have Not Thought That Appear To Agree.
Believe
Men
Thinking
The Nearer Any Disease Approaches To A Crisis, The Nearer It Is To A Cure. Danger And Deliverance Make Their Advances Together; And It Is Only In The Last Push That One Or The Other Takes The Lead.
Together
Disease
Lasts
For Freemen Like Brothers Agree; With One Spirit Endured, They One Friendship Pursued, And Their Temple Was Liberty Tree
Brother
Tree
Liberty
"government," Says Swift, "is A Plain Thing, And Fitted To The Capacity Of Many Heads."
Government
Political
Politics
Never, I Say, Had A Country So Many Openings To Happiness As This.... Her Cause Was Good. Her Principles Just And Liberal. Her Temper Serene And Firm.... The Remembrance Then Of What Is Past, If It Operates Rightly Must Inspire Her With The Most Laudable Of An Ambition, That Of Adding To The Fair Fame She Began With. The World Has Seen Her Great Adversity.... Let Then, The World See That She Can Bear Prosperity; And That Her Honest Virtue In Time Of Peace Is Equal To The Bravest Virtue In Time Of War.
Country
War
Adversity
That Which We Obtain Too Easily, We Esteem Too Lightly.
Appreciation
Pain
Democracy
Change Of Ministers Amounts To Nothing. One Goes Out, Another Comes In, And Still The Same Measures, Vices, And Extravagances Are Pursued. It Signifies Not Who Is Minister. The Defect Lies In The System. The Foundation And Superstructure Of The Government Is Bad. Prop It As You Please, It Continually Sinks And Ever Will.
Lying
Government
Political
Public Money Ought To Be Touched With The Most Scrupulous Consciousness Of Honor.
Political
Honor
Politics
Government, Like Dress, Is The Badge Of Lost Innocence.
Government
Dresses
Innocence
Could The Straggling Thoughts Of Individuals Be Collected, They Would Frequently Form Materials For Wise And Able Men To Improve Into Useful Matter.
Wise
Men
Matter
When A Man Has So Far Corrupted And Prostituted The Chastity Of His Mind, As To [profess] Things He Does Not Believe, He Has Prepared Himself For The Commission Of Every Other Crime.
Honesty
Integrity
Believe
It Is The Duty Of Every True Deist To Vindicate The Moral Justice Of God Against The Evils Of The Bible.
Justice Of God
Evil
Moral
As To The Christian System Of Faith, It Appears To Me As A Species Of Atheism — A Sort Of Religious Denial Of God. It Professes To Believe In A Man Rather Than In God. It Is A Compound Made Up Chiefly Of Manism With But Little Deism, And Is As Near To Atheism As Twilight Is To Darkness. It Introduces Between Man And His Maker An Opaque Body, Which It Calls A Redeemer, As The Moon Introduces Her Opaque Self Between The Earth And The Sun, And It Produces By This Means A Religious, Or An Irreligious, Eclipse Of Light. It Has Put The Whole Orbit Of Reason Into Shade.
Christian
Religious
Believe
An Army Of Principles Will Penetrate Where An Army Of Soldiers Cannot.
Peace
War
4th Of July
The Mind Once Enlightened Cannot Again Become Dark.
Education
Dark
Mind
War Ought To Be No Man's Wish.
War
Men
Wish
Wisdom Is Not The Purchase Of A Day
Man Did Not Enter Society To Be Worse Off, Or To Have Fewer Rights, But Rather To Have Those Rights Better Secured
Men
Rights
Fewer
From The Errors Of Other Nations, Let Us Learn Wisdom.
Errors
Nations
As Priestcraft Was Always The Enemy Of Knowledge, Because Priestcraft Supports Itself By Keeping People In Delusion And Ignorance, It Was Consistent With Its Policy To Make The Acquisition Of Knowledge A Real Sin.
Real
Ignorance
People
Man Cannot Make, Or Invent, Or Contrive Principles; He Can Only Discover Them; And He Ought To Look Through The Discovery To The Author.
Men
Discovery
Principles
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 His Country; But He That Stands It Now, Deserves The Love And Thanks Of Man And Woman.
Love
Summer
Country
We Hold The Moral Obligation Of Providing For Old Age, Helpless Infancy, And Poverty Is Far Superior To That Of Supplying The Invented Wants Of Courtly Extravagance.
Justice
Age
Extravagance
From Whence, Then, Could Arise The Solitary And Strange Conceit That The Almighty, Who Had Millions Of Worlds Equally Dependant On His Protection, Should Quit The Care Of All The Rest, And Come To Die In Our World, Because, They Say, One Man And One Woman Had Eaten An Apple?
Men
Our World
Apples
It Is From Our Enemies That We Often Gain Excellent Maxims, And Are Frequently Surprised Into Reason By Their Mistakes.
Mistake
Enemy
Gains
It Is The Madness Of Folly, To Expect Mercy From Those Who Have Refused To Do Justice; And Even Mercy, Where Conquest Is The Object, Is Only A Trick Of War; The Cunning Of The Fox Is As Murderous As The Violence Of The Wolf.
War
Justice
Violence
The Moral Duty Of Man Consists Of Imitatingthe Moral Goodness And Beneficence Of God,manifested In The Creation, Toward All His Creatures.
Men
Moral Goodness
Vegetarian
Here Then Is The Origin And Rise Of Government; Namely, A Mode Rendered Necessary By The Inability Of Moral Virtue To Govern The World; Here Too Is The Design And End Of Government, Viz. Freedom And Security.
Government
Design
Inability
I Have Never Made It A Consideration Whether The Subject Was Popular Or Unpopular, But Whether It Was Right Or Wrong; For That Which Is Right Will Become Popular, And That Which Is Wrong, Though By Mistake It May Obtain The Cry Or Fashion Of The Day, Will Soon Lose The Power Of Delusion, And Sink Into Disesteem.
Fashion
Mistake
May
It Was Needless, After This, To Say That All Was Vanity And Vexation Of Spirit; For It Is Impossible To Derive Happiness From The Company Of Those Whom We Deprive Of Happiness.
Vanity
Vexation
Spirit
The Protection Of A Man's Person Is More Sacred Than The Protection Of His Property.
Men
Evil
Sacred
There Are Two Distinct Classes Of Men - Those Who Pay Taxes And Those Who Receive And Live Upon Taxes.
Men
Class
Two
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.
Bible
Religious
Faith Religion
Of More Worth Is One Honest Man To Society, And In The Sight Of God, Than All The Crowned Ruffians That Ever Lived.
Men
Sight
Political
In The Progress Of Politics, As In The Common Occurrences Of Life, We Are Not Only Apt To Forget The Ground We Have Travelled Over, But Frequently Neglect To Gather Up Experiences As We Go.
Travel
Progress
Politics
Those Words, Temperate And Moderate, Are Words Either Of Political Cowardice, Or Of Cunning, Or Seduction. A Thing, Moderately Good Is Not So Good As It Ought To Be. Moderation In Temper, Is Always A Virtue; But Moderation In Principle, Is A Species Of Vice.
Pain
Political
Vices
The Duty Of Man Is Not A Wilderness Of Turnpike Gates, Through Which He Is To Pass By Tickets From One To The Other. It Is Plain And Simple, And Consists But Of Two Points--his Duty God, Which Every Man Must Feel; And, With Respect To His Neighbor, To Do As He Would Be Done By.
Simple
Men
Two
Titles Are Like A Magicians Wand Which Circumscribe Human Facility And Prevent Us From Living The Lives Of Man.
Self Esteem
Men
Titles
Government, Even In Its Best State, Is But A Necessary Evil; In Its Worst State, An Intolerable One.
Motivation
War
4th Of July
Nothing But Heaven Is Impregnable To Vice.
Heaven
Vices
It Is From The Power Of Taxation Being In The Hands Of Those Who Can Throw So Great A Part Of It From Their Own Shoulders, That It Has Raged Without A Check.
Hands
Political
Taxation
The Balance Of Power Is The Scale Of Peace. The Same Balance Would Be Preserved Were All The World Not Destitute Of Arms, For All Would Be Alike; But Since Some Will Not, Others Dare Not Lay Them Aside ... Horrid Mischief Would Ensue Were One Half The World Deprived Of The Use Of Them ... The Weak Will Become Prey To The Strong.
Strong
Gun
Weak Will
The Aristocracy Are Not The Farmers Who Work The Land, And Raise The Produce, But Are The Mere Consumers Of The Rent; And When Compared With The Active World, Are The Drones, A Seraglio Of Males, Who Neither Collect The Honey Nor Form The Hive, But Exist Only For Lazy Enjoyment.
Land
Lazy
Males
A Government Of Our Own Is Our Natural Right; And When A Man Seriously Reflects On The Precariousness Of Human Affairs, He Will Become Convinced, That It Is Infinitely Wiser And Safer, To Form A Constitution Of Our Own In A Cool Deliberate Manner, While We Have It In Our Power, Than To Trust Such An Interesting Event To Time And Chance.
Men
Interesting
Events
A Bad Cause Will Ever Be Supported By Bad Means And Bad Men.
Mean
Men
Causes
Calumny Is A Vice Of Curious Constitution; Trying To Kill It Keeps It Alive; Leave It To Itself And It Will Die A Natural Death.
Calumny Is
Trying
Vices
The Balance Of Power Is The Scale Of Peace.
Balance
Second Amendment
Arms
Taxes Were Not Raised To Carry On Wars, But That Wars Were Raised To Carry On Taxes.
War
Taxes
Raised
Aristocracy Is Kept Up By Family Tyranny And Injustice.
Aristocracy
Injustice
Tyranny
He Who Takes Nature For His Guide, Is Not Easily Beaten Out Of His Argument
Argument
Guides
Beaten
They May Be All Comprehended Under Three Heads - 1st, Superstition; 2d, Power; 3d, The Common Interests Of Society, And The Common Rights Of Man.
Men
Rights
Religion
I Consider The War Of America Against Britain As The Country's War, The Public's War, Or The War Of The People In Their Own Behalf, For The Security Of Their Natural Rights, And The Protection Of Their Own Property.
Country
War
Rights
To Live With Our Enemies As If They May Some Time Become Our Friends, And To Live With Our Friends As If They May Some Time Become Our Enemies, Is Not A Moral But A Political Maxim
Political
Enemy
May
Wisdom Is Not The Purchase Of A Day, And It Is No Wonder That We Should Err At The First Setting Off.
Firsts
Wonder
Should
It Has Been The Error Of The Schools To Teach Astronomy, And All The Other Sciences, And Subjects Of Natural Philosophy, As Accomplishments Only; Whereas They Should Be Taught Theologically, Or With Reference To The Being Who Is The Author Of Them: For All The Principles Of Science Are Of Divine Origin. Man Cannot Make, Or Invent, Or Contrive Principles: He Can Only Discover Them; And He Ought To Look Through The Discovery To The Author.
Philosophy
School
Men
The Almighty Lecturer, By Displaying The Principles Of Science In The Structure Of The Universe, Has Invited Man To Study And To Imitation. It Is As If He Has Said To The Inhabitants Of This Globe That We Call Ours, "i Have Made An Earth For Man To Dwell Upon, And I Have Rendered The Starry Heavens Visible, To Teach Him Science And The Arts. He Can Now Provide For His Own Comfort, And Learn From My Munificence To All To Be Kind To Each Other.
Art
Men
Heaven
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 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.
Strength
Being Strong
Encouragement
Accustom A People To Believe That Priests, Or Any Other Class Of Men Can Forgive Sins And You Will Have Sins In Abundance.
Believe
Men
Class
An Avidity To Punish Is Always Dangerous To Liberty. It Leads Men To Stretch, To Misinterpret, And To Misapply Even The Best Of Laws.
Men
Law
Liberty
Now, Which Am I To Believe, A Book That Any Impostor Might Make And Call The Word Of God, Or The Creation Itself Which None But An Almighty Power Could Make? For The Bible Says One Thing; And The Creation Says The Contrary. The Bible Represents God With All The Passions Of A Mortal, And The Creation Proclaims Him With All The Attributes Of A God.
Believe
Book
Passion
Government Is Not A Trade Which Any Man Or Body Of Men Has A Right To Set Up And Exercise For His Own Emolument, But Is Altogether A Trust, In Right Of Those By Whom That Trust Is Delegated, And By Whom It Is Always Resumable. It Has Of Itself No Rights; They Are Altogether Duties.
Exercise
Men
Rights
You Cannot Undermine Police Authority And Then Complain About Rising Crime.
Fear
Police
Complaining
Governments Arise Either Out Of The People Or Over The People.
Government
People
Arise
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.
Wisdom
Country
Mean
Wherefore, Security Being The True Design And End Of Government, It Unanswerably Follows That Whatever Form Thereof Appears Most Likely To Ensure It To Us, With The Least Expense And Greatest Benefit, Is Preferable To All Others.
Government
Design
Benefits
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.
Lying
Believe
Book
Action And Care Will In Time Wear Down The Strongest Frame, But Guilt And Melancholy Are Poisons Of Quick Dispatch.
Guilt
Poison
Care
The Circumstances Of The World Are Continually Changing, And The Opinions Of Men Change Also; And As Government Is For The Living, And Not For The Dead, It Is The Living Only That Has Any Right In It. That Which May Be Thought Right And Found Convenient In One Age, May Be Thought Wrong And Found Inconvenient In Another. In Such Cases, Who Is To Decide, The Living, Or The Dead?
Men
Age
World
Those Who Expect To Reap The Blessings Of Freedom Must, Like Men, Undergo The Fatigue Of Supporting It.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
It Is, I Believe, Impossible To Find In Any Story Upon Record So Many And Such Glaring Absurdities, Contradictions, And Falsehoods, As Are In The Books [the Gospels Of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John]. They Are More Numerous And Striking Than I Had Any Expectation Of Finding, When I Began This Examination.
Believe
Book
Expectations
Independence Is My Happiness, And I View Things As They Are, Without Regard To Place Or Person; My Country Is The World, And My Religion Is To Do Good.
God
Country
Freedom
Therefore We Say That A Lying Spirit Has Been In The Mouth Of The Writers Of The Books Of The Bible.
Bible
Lying
Book
War Involves In Its Progress Such A Train Of Unforeseen Circumstances That No Human Wisdom Can Calculate The End; It Has But One Thing Certain, And That Is To Increase Taxes.
Wisdom
Money
Motivation
Could The Peaceable Principle Of The Quakers Be Universally Established, Arms And The Art Of War Would Be Wholly Extirpated: But We Live Not In A World Of Angels...i Am Thus Far A Quaker, That I Would Gladly Agree With All The World To Lay Aside The Use Of Arms, And Settle Matters By Negotiation: But Unless The Whole Will, The Matter Ends, And I Take Up My Musket And Thank Heaven He Has Put It In My Power.
Art
War
Angel
Every Age And Generation Must Be As Free To Act For Itself.
Age
Generations
The Vatican Is A Dagger In The Heart Of Italy.
Heart
Daggers
Superstitions
It Is A Position Not To Be Controverted, That The Earth ... Was And Ever Would Have Continued To Be, The Common Property Of The Human Race.
Race
Earth
Common
The Almighty Implanted In Us These Inextinguishable Feelings For Good And Wise Purposes. They Are The Guardians Of His Image In Our Heart. They Distinguish Us From The Herd Of Common Animals.
Wise
Heart
Animal
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.
Pain
Motivation
Enemy
We Fight Not To Enslave, But To Set A Country Free, And To Make Room Upon The Earth For Honest Men To Live In.
Country
Pain
Freedom
A Constitution Defines And Limits The Powers Of The Government It Creates. It Therefore Follows, As A Natural And Also A Logical Result, That The Governmental Exercise Of Any Power Not Authorized By The Constitution Is An Assumed Power, And Therefore Illegal.
Exercise
Government
Limits
The Continually Progressive Change To Which The Meaning Of Words Is Subject, The Want Of A Universal Language Which Renders Translation Necessary, The Errors To Which Translations Are Again Subject, The Mistakes Of Copyists And Printers, Together With The Possibility Of Willful Alteration, Are Themselves Evidences That Human Language, Whether In Speech Or Print, Cannot Be The Vehicle Of The Word Of God.
Atheist
Mistake
Errors
Better Fare Hard With Good Men Than Feast It With Bad.
4th Of July
Men
Good Man
What At First Was Plunder Assumed The Softer Name Of Revenue.
Names
Taxation
Firsts
Reason Obeys Itself; And Ignorance Submits To Whatever Is Dictated To It.
Motivation
Ignorance
Knowledge
The Deist Needs None Of Those Tricks And Shows Called Miracles To Confirm His Faith, For What Can Be A Greater Miracle Than The Creation Itself, And His Own Existence?
Miracle
Needs
Creation
Men Who Look Upon Themselves Born To Reign, And Others To Obey, Soon Grow Insolent; Selected From The Rest Of Mankind Their Minds Are Early Poisoned By Importance.
Men
Mind
Looks
There Is Something In Corruption Which, Like A Jaundiced Eye, Transfers The Color Of Itself To The Object It Looks Upon, And Sees Everything Stained And Impure.
Lying
Eye
Color
It Is Necessary To The Happiness Of Man That He Be Mentally Faithful To Himself.
Happiness
Faith
Respect
The Word Of God Is The Creation We Behold: And It Is In This Word, Which No Human Invention Can Counterfeit Or Alter, That God Speaketh Universally To Man.
Men
Creation
Invention
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?
War
Believe
Thinking
That There Are Men In All Countries Who Get Their Living By War, And By Keeping Up The Quarrels Of Nations, Is As Shocking As It Is True; But When Those Who Are Concerned In The Government Of A Country, Make It Their Study To Sow Discord And Cultivate Predjudices Between Nations, It Becomes The More Unpardonable.
Country
War
Men
Customs Will Often Outlive The Remembrance Of Their Origin.
Remembrance
Atheism
Positive Atheism
There Are A Set Of Men Who Go About Making Purchases Upon Credit, And Buying Estates They Have Not Wherewithal To Pay For; And Having Done This, Their Next Step Is To Fill The Newspapers With Paragraphs Of The Scarcity Of Money And The Necessity Of A Paper Emission, Then To Have A Legal Tender Under The Pretense Of Supporting Its Credit, And When Out, To Depreciate It As Fast As They Can, Get A Deal Of It For A Little Price, And Cheat Their Creditors; And This Is The Concise History Of Paper Money Schemes.
Men
Scarcity
Credit
Liberty Cannot Be Purchased By A Wish.
Wish
Liberty
A Nation Under A Well Regulated Government, Should Permit None To Remain Uninstructed. It Is Monarchical And Aristocratical Government Only That Requires Ignorance For Its Support.
Education
Ignorance
Government
My Mind Is My Own Church.
Motivation
Mind
Church
To Be Nobly Wrong Is More Manly Than To Be Meanly Right.
Nobility
Manly
No Man Is Prejudiced In Favor Of A Thing, Knowing It To Be Wrong. He Is Attached To It On The Belief Of Its Being Right; And When He Sees It Is Not So, The Prejudice Will Be Gone.
Hate
Men
Knowing
If Anything Had Or Could Have A Value Equal To Gold And Silver, It Would Require No Tender Law; And If It Had Not That Value It Ought Not To Have Such A Law; And, Therefore, All Tender Laws Are Tyrannical And Unjust And Calculated To Support Fraud And Oppression.
Law
Support
Gold
Lay Then The Axe To The Root, And Teach Governments Humanity. It Is Their Sanguinary Punishments Which Corrupt Mankind.
Government
Punishment
Roots
...the Bible Is Such A Book Of Lies And Contradictions There Is No Knowing Which Part To Believe Or Whether Any.
Atheist
Lying
Book
A Man May Write Himself Out Of Reputation When Nobody Else Can Do It.
Writing
Men
May
The More Men Have To Lose, The Less Willing Are They To Venture.
Loss
Men
Venture
Moderation In Temper Is Always A Virtue; But Moderation In Principle Is Always A Vice.
Pain
Motivation
Vices
It Is The Fable Of Jesus Christ, As Told In The New Testament, And The Wild And Visionary Doctrine Raised Thereon, Against Which I Contend. The Story, Taking It As It Is Told, Is Blasphemously Obscene.
Religious
Jesus
Father
Christianity Is The Strangest Religion Ever Set Up, For It Committed A Murder Upon Jesus In Order To Redeem Mankind From The Sin Of Eating An Apple.
Jesus
Order
Apples
The Story Of The Redemption Will Not Stand Examination. That Man Should Redeem Himself From The Sin Of Eating An Apple By Committing A Murder On Jesus Christ, Is The Strangest System Of Religion Ever Set Up.
Jesus
Men
Apples
Every Religion Is Good That Teaches Man To Be Good; And I Know Of None That Instructs Him To Be Bad.
Motivation
Men
Teach
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.
Giving
Heaven
Would Be
Panics, In Some Cases, Have Their Uses; They Produce As Much Good As Hurt. Their Duration Is Always Short; The Mind Soon Grows Through Them And Acquires A Firmer Habit Than Before. But Their Peculiar Advantage Is, That They Are The Touchstone Of Sincerity And Hypocrisy, And Bring Things And Men To Light, Which Might Have Lain Forever Undiscovered.
Hurt
Men
Light
We Still Find The Greedy Hand Of Government Thrusting Itself Into Every Corner And Crevice Of Industry And Grasping At The Spoil Of The Multitude. Invention Is Continually Exercised To Furnish New Pretenses For Revenue And Taxation. It Watches Prosperity As Its Prey And Permits None To Escape Without A Tribute.
Wisdom
Government
Hands
That God Cannot Lie, Is No Advantage To Your Argument, Because It Is No Proof That Priests Can Not, Or That The Bible Does Not.
Lying
Biblical
Religion
Public Money Ought To Be Touched With The Most Scrupulous Conscientiousness Of Honor. It Is Not The Produce Of Riches Only, But Of The Hard Earnings Of Labor And Poverty. It Is Drawn Even From The Bitterness Of Want And Misery. Not A Beggar Passes, Or Perishes In The Streets, Whose Mite Is Not In That Mass.
Honor
Poverty
Bitterness
As Property, Honestly Obtained, Is Best Secured By An Equality Of Rights, So Ill-gotten Property Depends For Protection On A Monopoly Of Rights. He Who Has Robbed Another Of His Property, Will Next Endeavor To Disarm Him Of His Rights, To Secure That Property; For When The Robber Becomes The Legislator He Believes Himself Secure.
Believe
Rights
Political
Civilization, Or That Which Is So Called, Has Operated Two Ways To Make One Part Of Society More Affluent And The Other Part More Wretched Than Would Have Been The Lot Of Either In A Natural State.
Civilization
Two
Way
Uncritical Reverence For The Founding Fathers Was Less Ubiquitous While They Actually Lived. . . . "the Reign Of Terror That Raged In America During The Latter End Of The Washington Administration, And The Whole Of That Of Adams, Is Enveloped In Mystery To Me. That There Were Men In The Government Hostile To The Representative System, Was Once Their Toast, Though It Is Now Their Overthrow, And Therefore The Fact Is Established Against Them."
Life
Father
Men
Government Without A Constitution, Is A Power Without A Right.
Government
Constitution
When The Tongue Or The Pen Is Let Loose In A Frenzy Of Passion, It Is The Man, And Not The Subject, That Becomes Exhausted.
Passion
Men
Tongue
Our Present Condition Is, Legislation Without Law; Wisdom Without A Plan; A Constitution Without A Name; And, What Is Strangely Astonishing, Perfect Independence Contending For Dependence.
Law
Names
Perfect
We Feel Something Like Respect For Consistency Even In Error. We Lament The Virtue That Is Debauched Into A Vice; But The Vice That Affects A Virtue Becomes The More Detestable.
Errors
Consistency
Vices
When It Becomes Necessary To Do A Thing, The Whole Heart And Soul Should Go Into The Measure, Or Not Attempt It.
Heart
Soul
Trying
Men Should Not Petition For Rights, But Take Them
Men
Rights
Should
I Prefer Peace. But If Trouble Must Come, Let It Come In My Time, So That My Children Can Live In Peace.
Children
Trouble
My Time
The Slavery Of Fear Had Made Men Afraid To Think.
Men
Thinking
Slavery
Oppression Is Often The Consequence, But Seldom Or Never The Means Of Riches; And Tho' Avarice Will Preserve A Man From Being Necessitously Poor, It Generally Makes Him Too Timorous To Be Wealthy.
Men
Greed
Poor
The Age Of Ignorance Commenced With The Christian System.
Christian
Ignorance
Religion
To Argue With A Person Who Has Renounced The Use Of Reason Is Like Administering Medicine To The Dead.
Funny
4th Of July
Medicine
It Is A Faculty Of The Human Mind To Become What It Contemplates, And To Act In Unison With Its Object.
Philosophy
Mind
Unison
Government Has No Right To Make Itself A Party In Any Debates Respecting The Principles Or Mode Of Forming Or Of Changing, Constitutions. It Is Not For The Benefit Of Those Who Exercise The Powers Of Government, That Constitutions, And The Governments Issuing From Them, Are Established.
Party
Exercise
Government
They Took Care To Represent Government As A Thing Made Up Of Mysteries, Which Only Themselves Understood, And They Hid From The Understanding Of The Nation, The Only Thing That Was Beneficial To Know, Namely, That Government Is Nothing More Than A National Association Acting On The Principles Of Society.
Government
Political
Understanding
But Such Is The Irresistable Nature Of Truth, That All It Asks, And All It Wants Is The Liberty Of Appearing.
Truth
Liberty
Want
Government Is Best Which Governs Least
Freedom
Democracies Have
Government
It Is Not A God, Just And Good, But A Devil, Under The Name Of God, That The Bible Describes.
Fake People
Names
Devil
To Possess Ourselves Of A Clear Idea Of What Government Is, Or Ought To Be, We Must Trace It To Its Origin.
Government
Ideas
Clear
America Could Carry On A Two Years' War By The Confiscation Of The Property Of Disaffected Persons, And Be Made Happy By Their Expulsion. Say Not That This Is Revenge, Call It Rather The Soft Resentment Of A Suffering People, Who, Having No Object In View But The Good Of All, Have Staked Their Own All Upon A Seemingly Doubtful Event. Yet It Is Folly To Argue Against Determined Hardness; Eloquence May Strike The Ear, And The Language Of Sorrow Draw Forth The Tear Of Compassion, But Nothing Can Reach The Heart That Is Steeled With Prejudice.
Revenge
War
Heart
When I See Throughout This Book, Called The Bible, A History Of The Grossest Vices And A Collection Of The Most Paltry And Contemptible Tales And Stories, I Could Not So Dishonor My Creator By Calling It By His Name.
Book
Names
Religion
The Sun Never Shined On A Cause Of Greater Worth.
Sun
Revolution
Causes
It Is Always To Be Taken For Granted, That Those Who Oppose An Equality Of Rights Never Mean The Exclusion Should Take Place On Themselves.
Taken
Mean
Rights
Man Must Go Back To Nature For Information.
Nature
Men
Information
It Has Been The Scheme Of The Christian Church, And Of All The Other Invented Systems Of Religion, To Hold Man In Ignorance Of The Creator, As It Is Of Government To Hold Man In Ignorance Of His Rights. The Systems Of The One Are As False As Those Of The Other, And Are Calculated For Mutual Support.
Christian
Ignorance
Men
But There Are Times When Men Have Serious Thoughts, And It Is At Such Times, When They Begin To Think, That They Begin To Doubt The Truth Of The Christian Religion; And Well They May, For It Is Too Fanciful And Too Full Of Conjecture, Inconsistency, Improbability And Irrationality, To Afford Consolation To The Thoughtful Man. His Reason Revolts Against His Creed. He Sees That None Of Its Articles Are Proved, Or Can Be Proved.
Christian
Men
Thinking
I Draw My Idea Of The Form Of Government From A Principle In Nature, Which No Art Can Overturn, Viz. That The More Simple Any Thing Is, The Less Liable It Is To Be Disordered; And The Easier Repaired When Disordered.
Art
Simple
Government
It Is Only By The Exercise Of Reason That Man Can Discover God.
Exercise
Men
Reason
Religion Is A History Of Wickedness That Has Served To Corrupt And Brutalize Humankind; And, For My Part, I Sincerely Detest It As I Detest Everything That Is Cruel.
Wickedness
Age Of Reason
Sincerely
[a]ll Churches, Whether Jewish, Christian Or Muslim, Are Simply Human Inventions. They Use Fear To Enslave Us. They Are A Monopoly For Power And Profit.
Christian
Church
Use
In The First Part Of 'rights Of Man' I Have Endeavoured To Show...that There Does Not Exist A Right To Establish Hereditary Government...because Hereditary Government Always Means A Government Yet To Come, And The Case Always Is, That The People Who Are To Live Afterwards, Have Always The Same Right To Choose A Government For Themselves, As The People Had Who Have Lived Before Them.
Mean
Men
Rights
For The Fate Of Charles The First, Hath Only Made Kings More Subtle — Not More Just.
Kings
Fate
Revolution
These Are The Days That Try Man's Heart.
Heart
Men
Trying
Suspicion And Persecution Are Weeds Of The Same Dunghill, And Flourish Best Together.
Weed
Together
Suspicion
It Is For The Good Of Nations, And Not For The Emolument Or Aggrandizement Of Particular Individuals, That Government Ought To Be Established, And That Mankind Are At The Expense Of Supporting It. The Defects Of Every Government And Constitution Both As To Principle And Form, Must, On A Parity Of Reasoning, Be As Open To Discussion As The Defects Of A Law, And It Is A Duty Which Every Man Owes To Society To Point Them Out.
Men
Law
Liberty
The Instant Formal Government Is Abolished, Society Begins To Act. A General Association Takes Place, And Common Interest Produces Common Security.
Pain
Motivation
Government
War Is The Gambling Table Of Governments, And Citizens The Dupes Of The Game.
War
Gambling
Government
Virtue Is Not Hereditary.
Virtue
Hereditary
The Creation Is The Bible Of The Deist. He There Reads, In The Handwriting Of The Creator Himself, The Certainty Of His Existence And The Immutability Of His Power, And All Other Bibles And Testaments Are To Him Forgeries.
Handwriting
Creation
Deism
There Exists In Man A Mass Of Sense Lying In A Dormant State, And Which, Unless Something Excites It To Action, Will Descend With Him, In That Condition,to The Grave.
Lying
Men
Action
It Is From The Bible That Man Has Learned Cruelty, Rapine, And Murder; For The Belief Of A Cruel God Makes A Cruel Man.
Men
Belief
Murder
I Have As Little Superstition In Me As Any Man Living, But My Secret Opinion Has Ever Been, And Still Is, That God Almighty Will Not Give Up A People To Military Destruction, Or Leave Them Unsupportedly To Perish, Who Have So Earnestly And So Repeatedly Sought To Avoid The Calamities Of War, By Every Decent Method Which Wisdom Could Invent. Neither Have I So Much Of The Infidel In Me, As To Suppose That He Has Relinquished The Government Of The World, And Given Us Up To The Care Of Devils.
Giving Up
Military
War
I Would Not Dare So Dishonor My Creator's Name By Attaching It To This Filthy Book.
Bible
Religious
Book
The Danger To Which The Success Of Revolutions Is Most Exposed, Is That Of Attempting Them Before The Principles On Which They Proceed, And The Advantages To Result From Them, Are Sufficiently Seen And Understood.
Principles
Revolution
Danger
The Creation Speaks A Universal Language, Independent Of Human Speech Or Human Language, Multiplied And Various As They Be. It Is An Ever-existing Original, Which Every Man Can Read. It Cannot Be Forged; It Cannot Be Counterfeited; It Cannot Be Lost; It Cannot Be Altered; It Cannot Be Suppressed. It Does Not Depend Upon The Will Of Man Whether It Shall Be Published Or Not; It Publishes Itself From One End Of The Earth To The Other. It Preaches To All Nations And To All Worlds; And This Word Of God Reveals To Man All That Is Necessary For Man To Know Of God.
Independent
Men
Doe
A Little Matter Will Move A Party, But It Must Be Something Great That Moves A Nation.
Party
Moving
Greatness
I Call Not Upon A Few, But Upon All: Not On This State Or That State, But On Every State; Up And Help Us; Lay Your Shoulders To The Wheel; Better Have Too Much Force Than Too Little, When So Great An Object Is At Stake.
Littles
Too Much
Revolution
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


Trending Author
Jonah Hill
Vinton Cerf
Luther Burbank
Stephan Jenkins
Gabrielle Roy
Broderick Crawford
Category
Information