I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to anot… - Thomas Paine

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.

He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it. The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason.

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason.

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.

Every child born in the world must be considered as deriving its existence from God. The world is this new to him as it was to the first that existed, and his natural right in it is of the same kind.

Man cannot make principles, he can only discover them.

Later in 1776, Paine accompanied the Continental army in its retreat from New Jersey to Philadelphia. During this time, Paine began a new series of pamphlets. Eventually, these sixteen pamphlets became The American Crisis. In them, Paine comments on the American war effort and urges the colonists to keep fighting. This pamphlet, the first in the series, is perhaps the most famous. The pamphlet was read to George Washington’s troops in December 1776. Days later, these same troops crossed the Delaware River and attacked the British encampment in Trenton, New Jersey. The pamphlet opens with a familiar line: “These are the times that try men’s souls.