My own mind is my church, the world is my country, to do
good is my religion" Thomas Paine (1737 -1809)
This is what Thomas Paine said about religion. Now that is a wonderful quote, it says it all.
There is a spirituality in every person you meet and you have to cherish it and nourish it.
And I think this quote sums it all up. It's such a criminal offence to use religion to justify war
and killing as happens now. Paine shines in my mind as the person who really pin pointed
what it's all about.
The words of Thomas Paine have inspired me and encouraged me. Words have tremendous
force, that's why the media is so influential, that's why religion is so influential. What we
need in the world is more encouragement. The political class and the media underestimate
people's intelligence. And what a speech or a book can do is to give people confidence in
themselves. Paine believed in that passionately.
I think the most important thing in life is to encourage. If anybody asked me what I want on
my gravestone, I would like 'Tony Benn, he encouraged us'. That would be all I would need!
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