Looking back to those times we cannot, without much reading,…

Looking back to those times we cannot, without much reading, clearly gauge the sentiment of the Colonies. Perhaps the larger number of responsible men still hoped for peace with England. They did not even venture to express the matter that way. Few men, indeed, had thought in terms of war.
Then Paine wrote ‘Common Sense,’ an anonymous tract which immediately stirred the fires of liberty. It flashed from hand to hand throughout the Colonies. One copy reached the New York Assembly, in session at Albany, and a night meeting was voted to answer this unknown writer with his clarion call to liberty. The Assembly met, but could find no suitable answer. Tom Paine had inscribed a document which never has been answered adversely, and never can be, so long as man esteems his priceless possession.
In ‘Common Sense’ Paine flared forth with a document so powerful that the Revolution became inevitable. Washington recognized the difference, and in his calm way said that matters never could be the same again.. It must be remembered that ‘Common Sense’ preceded the declaration and affirmed the very principles that went into the national doctrine of liberty. But that affirmation was made with more vigor, more of the fire of the patriot and was exactly suited to the hour. It is probable that we should have had the Revolution without Tom Paine. Certainly it could not be forestalled, once he had spoken.

Sourced, The Philosophy of Paine (1925)

Other Thomas Edison Quotes

We really haven’t got any great amount of data on the subject, and without data how can we reach any definite conclusions? All we have — everything — favors the idea of what religionists call the “Hereafter.” Science, if it ever learns the facts, probably will find another more definitely descriptive term. - View Quote Details on We really haven’t got any great amount of data on…
As quoted in “Wizard Edison” in The Newark Advocate (2 January 1903), p. 1 according to reasearch by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson at snopes.com - View Quote Details on As quoted in “Wizard Edison” in The Newark Advocate (2…
We don’t know a millionth of one percent about anything. - View Quote Details on We don’t know a millionth of one percent about anything.
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I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God. - View Quote Details on I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the…
I am much less interested in what is called God’s word than in God’s deeds. All bibles are man-made. - View Quote Details on I am much less interested in what is called God’s…
He has been called an atheist, but atheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often express by the name of deity.
His Bible was the open face of nature, the broad skies, the green hills. He disbelieved the ancient myths and miracles taught by established creeds. But the attacks on those creeds — or on persons devoted to them — have served to darken his memory, casting a shadow across the closing years of his life.
When Theodore Roosevelt termed Tom Paine a “dirty little atheist” he surely spoke from lack of understanding. It was a stricture, an inaccurate charge of the sort that has dimmed the greatness of this eminent American. But the true measure of his stature will yet be appreciated. The torch which he handed on will not be extinguished. - View Quote Details on He has been called an atheist, but atheist he was…
The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. - View Quote Details on The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but…
Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I’ve stolen a lot, myself. But I know how to steal! They don’t know how to steal! - View Quote Details on Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I’ve stolen a lot,…
Through all the years of experimenting and research, I never once made a discovery. I start where the last man left off…. All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention pure and simple. - View Quote Details on Through all the years of experimenting and research, I never…