“When it becomes necessary to do a thing, the whole heart and soul should go into the measure, or not attempt it”
-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man

If it is something truly worthwhile, then it requires the best effort you can give it, or you are unworthy of the cause.

“It is more generous to be wrong on the side of confidence than on the side of suspicion.”
-Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

To be forthright in your belief, and be wrong, is better than to error in unwarranted suspicion.

“There are many things which in themselves are neither morally good nor bad, but they are productive of consequences, which are strongly marked with one or other of these characters.”
-Thomas Paine

“Who would know?”, “What’s the harm?”, “Nobody gets hurt…”

But what if you’re wrong?

“A life chequered with uncommon varieties is seldom a long one. Action and care will in time wear down the strongest frame, but guilt and melancholy are poisons of quick despatch.”
-Thomas Paine

Guilt and remorse are a diseases that afflict the human spirit. A life lived at odds with our fundamental nature is seldom long or happy. 

“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.”

A mind stuck in fear, prejudice, and hatred can only become unstuck of it’s own will. It is impenetrable.

It is better to look elsewhere to exchange ideas and find human compassion.

“The mind, in discovering truth, acts in the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind back to the same condition it was in before it saw it.”
-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man

Once we venture out onto the precipice of truth, there is no going back, for it is the journey that encompasses a lifetime.