Had it not been for Thomas Paine I could not deliver this lecture here to-night. It is still fashionable to calumniate this man - and yet Channing, Theodore Parker, Longfellow, Emerson, and in fact all the liberal Unitarians and Universalists of the world have adopted the opinions of Thomas Paine.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Ingersoll credits Thomas Paine for the intellectual freedom that allows him to speak, noting that even respected liberal religious leaders agree with Paine's views.
- In plain terms
- He owes his ability to speak freely to Thomas Paine, and many respected religious leaders share Paine's opinions.
- What can you take from it?
- Intellectual freedom often comes from past radicals whose ideas become mainstream over time.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do social taboos shift over time?
- Which controversial figures are now accepted?
Another view
It oversimplifies the complex differences between Paine's deism and Unitarian theology.
More from Robert G. Ingersoll
The night of the Middle Ages lasted for a thousand years. The first star that enriched the horizon of this universal gloom was Giordano Bruno. He was the heral…
Permalink to quote #60 Let us be honest. Did all the priests of Rome increase the mental wealth of man as much as Bruno? Did all the priests of France do as great a work for the civi…
Permalink to quote #62 The Emperor Constantine, who lifted Christianity into power, murdered his wife Fausta, and his eldest son Crispus, the same year that he convened the Council o…
Permalink to quote #59
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