The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.
But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.
I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist of doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
It is not in numbers, but in unity, that our great strength lies; yet our present numbers are sufficient to repel the force of all the world.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Who can say by what exceeding fine action of fine matter it is that a thought is produced in what we call the mind? And yet that thought when produced, as i know produce the thought that i am writing, is capable of becoming inmortal, and is the only production of man that has that capacity.
It is not because the right principles have been violated, that they are to be abandoned.
Society in every state is a blessing, but a government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.
Every child born in the world must be considered as deriving its existence from God. The world is this new to him as it was to the first that existed, and his natural right in it is of the same kind.
I have now gone through the Bible, as a man would go through a wood with an axe on his shoulder, and fell trees. Here they lie; and the priests, if they can, may replant them. They may, perhaps, stick them in the ground, but they will never make them grow.
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow.
The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.
The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
The mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
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.
Arms, like laws, discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe and preserve order...