PAINE, Thomas Quotes
(1737-1809), English-American political and deistic writer
The duty of man is plain and simple, and consists but of two points; his duty to God, which every man must feel; and his duty to his neighbor, to do as he would be done by.
One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in kings is, that nature disapproves it; otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule by giving mankind an ass in place of a lion.
It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.
Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.
Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of—for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again.
The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again.
How impious is the title of "sacred majesty" applied to a worm, who, in the midst of his splendor, is crumbling into dust!
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