A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
Thomas PaineRead
The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.
Interpretation
A true man finds strength and courage in difficult times through thoughtful reflection.
This quote by Thomas Paine emphasizes the importance of facing challenges with a positive attitude. It suggests that during troubled times, a real man's ability to smile indicates resilience, while the strength he derives from distress allows personal growth and bravery, achieved through self-reflection on his experiences.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.
That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your argument, because it is no proof that priests can not, or that the Bible does not.
I consider the war of America against Britain as the country's war, the public's war, or the war of the people in their own behalf, for the security of their natural rights, and the protection of their own property.
Had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon, in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twenty-four hours, and all nations would have believed it; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know anything of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it.
The end of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man; and these rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance of oppression.
To reason with goverments, as they have existed for ages, is to argue with brutes. It is only from the nations themselves that reforms can be expected
Lukewarm acceptance is more bewildering than outright rejection.
We just were saying no more police brutality. And we had enough of police harassment in the Village and other places.
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.
I never question God. Sometimes I say, 'Why me? Why do I have such a hard life? Why do I have this disease? Why do I have siblings who died?' But then I think and say, 'Why not me?'
Resistance to oppression is second nature.
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