"These are the times that try men's souls."
"That government is best which governs least."
"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."
"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."
"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace."
"If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately."
"Lead, follow, or get out of the way."
As you can see, Paine was quite a philosopher. . . .
"Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice."
"But such is the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing."
"There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord."
"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right."
"That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly."
"Time makes more converts than reason."
Choose a quote above and tell us what you think of it.
Wow, there are a lot of great quotes here! Here are some of the ones that stood out to me, wich some of my thoughts about them:
ReplyDelete"These are the times that try men's souls." You know, as I read this, I think this quote can apply at most any stage of life. The longer I live (though I know I am still young), the more experiences life gives me that try my soul. This is a good thing---it is in those times that try us that we are able to make some of the hardest choices that will prove who we are, what we believe, whom we serve (whether God or the adversary), and what our character is made of.
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection." This just made me think that everything is what we make of it---we can choose our attitude and what we get out of a situation, good or bad.
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection." This makes me think of how much parents love their children. Earthly parents want only what is best for their children, do not want to see them hurt or suffer, and would rather take on the trouble, hardship, heartache, etc. for themselves than see their children go through it. Just imagine how this is magnified infinitely in our Heavenly Father's love.
"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right." It is easy to become complacent and not keep up enough in doing what is right, so that eventually, it is easier to start rationalizing things that are wrong so that our vision is so distorted that we start to believe they may not be wrong afterall. I like that it says that the wrong things have just a superficial appearance of being right, because even though that's how it may appear and what we may start to believe, it will never change the truth that wrong is wrong.
Okay, last one:
"That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly." I really believe this is true and have many examples of it in my own life. The things that we do not have to put in the work to obtain, we do not appreciate as much or treat as well. It's unfortunate, but so true! And on the contrary, that which takes work to obtain, we appreciate so much more and treat so much better because we understand its value and what we had to do to obtain it.
Sorry for writing so much!! Great things to think about for the day.
I think Thomas Paine inspired people to fight for freedom. And I think it was not at all because of his education. I think he was talented at persuading people little by little. His strategy seems to be to start out with things people agree with, and then add new things little by little.
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