I believe in the equality of man and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy. – Thomas Paine
Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society. – Thomas Paine
Reputation is what men and women think of us character is what God and angels know of us. – Thomas Paine
In America everybody is of opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards. – Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays, 1950