05 December 2007

Remember Thomas Paine?

I have found the words that I struggle to live by. This quote is featured on the walls at the delectable Mountain Rose Cafe (pic) in Winter Park, Colorado.
The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

Thomas Paine
I followed up at Wikipedia and discovered that I've neglected Thomas Paine all these years! He was both admirably ahead of his time and inspirational for his contemporaries.

(It is a bit disappointing that he did not write those exact words. The quote is derived from his Rights of Man (1791), "...; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good." I had no luck sourcing the brethren part.)

3 comments:

Two Guys Good Health said...

But if the world is our country, how can we engage in short-sighted, and overly stimulated nationalism? America is best!

Im loving the blog Nick!

VDowney said...

That is a fantastic quote. I've written it down and now plan on using it as my personal quote too. I hope you don't mind.

What a great thing to say in this time of distrust between nations, hatred between people, and religious strife.

But don't forget--atheism is the source of all the world's problems. Thanks, Pope Benedict.

Anonymous said...

I love this quote. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.