Thomas Paine: “But in war we may be certain of these two things, viz. that cruelty in an enemy, and motions made with more than usual…”

Reason and discussion, persuasion and conviction, become the weapons in the contest, and it is only when those are attempted to be suppressed that recourse is had to violence.

Discussion and the general will arbitrates the question, and to this, private opinion yields with a good grace, and order is preserved uninterrupted.

I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.

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.