A man's opinions, whether written or in thought, are his own until he pleases to publish them himself; and it is adding cruelty to injustice to make him the author of what future reflection or better information might occasion him to suppress or amend.
Paine asserts the importance of an individual's right to control their own opinions and writings until they choose to share them publicly.
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In fine, society performs for itself almost everything which is ascribed to government.
I know the value of moral instruction, and I have seen the danger of the contrary.
It has nothing to dread from attacks; truth has given it an establishment, and time will record it with a name as lasting as his own.
The object is not so much the produce of the tax as the justice of the measure.