“Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.”

English-born American political thinker, inventor, and statesman

Thomas Paine was an English-born American political thinker, inventor, and statesman of the 18th century. He helped shape the American Revolution and is best known for the pamphlets Common Sense and The American Crisis. Those writings were among the most influential texts at the start of the Revolution, and they helped encourage colonial patriots to declare independence from Great Britain in 1776. His ideas were rooted in Enlightenment ideals of human rights, which run through his political writing.