The History Blog Project

On Convictions, Messianic Missions, Delusions, and Accepting Reality in Iraq
“It is not our belief or disbelief that can make or unmake the fact.”-Thomas Paine, Age of Reason
When a belief defies readily available facts, it becomes a delusion. (…)

On Celebrating Thomas Paine and the Spirit of '76
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
-Thomas Paine, The American Crisis
On the Fourth of July it is good to remember that all we take so very much for granted was not always so. (…)

On the True Source of Political Power
All power exercised over a Nation must have some beginning. I must either be delegated or assumed. There are no other sources. All delegated power is turst, and all assumed power is usurpation. Time does not alter the nature and quality of either.
-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man

On the Forthright and the Deceiver
How nearly is human cunning allied to folly! The animals to whom nature has given the faculty we call cunning, know always when to use it, and use it wisely; but when man descends to cunning, he blunders and betrays.
-Thomas Paine

On Meaningless Titles and Knowing That the Emperor Has No Clothes
When I reflect on the pompous titles bestowed on unworthy men, I feel an indignity that instructs me to despise the absurdity.
-Thomas Paine

On Beauty, Being Without Words, and Chills Going Up the Spine
We sometimes experience sensations to which language is not equal. The conception is too bulky to be born alive, and in the torture of thinking, we stand dumb. Our feelings, imprisoned by their magnitude, find no way out — and, in the struggle of expression, every finger tries to be a tongue. The machinery of the body seems too little for the mind, and we look about for helps to show our thoughts by.
-Thomas Paine