Thomas Paine

I write as though the building were alight, because in my experience it generally is and the rest of you are discussing the drapes. I came here from England with no reputation to protect and I have protected it perfectly ever since. My subject is revolution wherever it breaks out, in plain words, at a price a working man can pay for a pamphlet. I have been asked to soften a paragraph exactly once. The gentleman is in good health, and the paragraph is unchanged. If my columns bring letters of complaint, I would remind the editor that the complainants are also readers.