Thomas Paine: “All circumstances taken together, the French Revolution is the most astonishing that has hitherto happened in the world.”

There ought, therefore, to be in every nation a method of occasionally ascertaining the state of public opinion with respect to government.

The oppressed soldier will become a freeman; and the tortured sailor, no longer dragged through the streets like a felon, will pursue his mercantile voyage in safety.

When all the governments of Europe shall be established on the representative system, nations will become acquainted, and the animosities and prejudices fomented by the intrigue and artifice of courts, will cease.

When men unite in agreeing that a thing is good, could it be obtained, such for instance as relief from a burden of taxes and the extinction of corruption, the object is more than half accomplished.