"The abilities of man must fall short on one side or the other, like too scanty a blanket when you are abed. If you pull it upon your shoulders, your feet are left bare; if you thrust it down to your feet, your shoulders are uncovered."
Thomas Paine was an English-born American writer and political pamphleteer whose works shaped revolutionary thought in the Atlantic world. He is best known for Common Sense, The American Crisis, Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason.