“Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself – that is my doctrine.” -Thomas Paine If something is my right, then it ought to be another’s.
Category Archives: Philosophy of Thomas Paine
On the Popularity of Fox News
“Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.” -Thomas Paine If Glenn Beck says the government wants to tax your breathing under the guise of global warming legislation, that doesn’t mean it’s true. If Sarah Palin tells us that health care reform is an evil plot, it’s more a reflection of …
On Justice for Terrorists
“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” -Thomas Paine Vengeance is a self-fulfilling prophesy, feeding on its own cycle of hate and retribution. Victory over the insidious pull of a false sense …
On the Better Use of a Billion Dollars: Corporate Bailouts or Scholarships
“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.” -Thomas Paine, Rights of Man Believing that a company is too big to fail, while the education of the coming generation falters, is an aristocracy of government-by-corporation that cannot …
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On Becoming Set In Your Ways
“Time makes more converts than reason” -Thomas Paine, Common Sense With time comes experience, with experience, conviction.
On the Value of Hanging Out with the Right People
“Better fare hard with good men than feast it with bad” -Thomas Paine It is not the relative difficulty or ease, but the caliber of people with which we associate, that shapes the course of our lives.
On the Genius and Strength of Abraham Lincoln
“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.” -Thomas Paine, The American Crisis Lincoln’s time in the …
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On Having Sufficient Gratitude
“But if objects for gratitude and admiration are our desire, do they not present themselves every hour to our eyes?” -Thomas Paine, Age of Reason Hobbes said life was nasty, brutish, and short. There is no question that life is often hard, even nasty and brutish, certainly short. Even so, if you have time for …
On Hiding the Truth
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. Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason Truth is onto itself always, requiring nothing, and hiding from no one. Those that aim to deceive others from where truth lay, …
On Released Memos Justifying Torture
“An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates his duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” -Thomas …