Public money ought to be touched with the most scrupulous conscientiousness of honor. It is not the produce of riches only, but of the hard earnings of labor and poverty. It is drawn even from the bitterness of want and misery. Not a beggar passes, or perishes in the streets, whose mite is not in that mass.
Thomas PaineAnd to read the Bible without horror, we must undo everything that is tender, sympathizing and benevolent in the heart of man.
Thomas PaineImmediate necessity makes many things convenient, which if continued would grow into oppressions.
Thomas PaineThe right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which other rights are protected. To take away this right is to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to the will of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of representatives is in this case.
Thomas Paine