"THE CRISIS
"I.
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
"Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."
Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
First printing, the Pennsylvania Journal, December 19, 1776
Excerpted from the Project Gutenberg online edition
Writings of Thomas Paine — Volume 1 (1774-1779): the American Crisis
Conway, Moncure Daniel, Ed. (1832-1907)
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