Peygamberlik profesyonel bir yalancılıktır. Neredeyse diğer tüm vakalarda basit bir varsayımın bile insanların saflığı sayesinde bir yalana dönüştüğü… - Thomas Paine

The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.

As a moral, it preaches against the malevolent spirit of prediction; for as certainly as a man predicts ill, he becomes inclined to wish it. The pride of having his judgment right hardens his heart, till at last he beholds with satisfaction, or sees with disappointment, the accomplishment or the failure of his predictions.

The circumstances of the world are continually changing, and the opinions of men change also; and as government is for the living, and not for the dead, it is the living only that has any right in it.