Human rights

Explore 16 quotes about Human rights

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Declaration of Independence

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Topic

Equality Natural law Human rights Freedom

Source

Declaration of Independence

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

United States Declaration of Independence. 1776, preamble.

Current Citation

The National Archives. The Declaration of Independence: A Transcript. 24 July 2020, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.

I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of human rights.

Desmond Tutu

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Topic

Equality Human rights

Speaker

Desmond Tutu

Medium

Interview TV program

Language

English

Time

1985 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Tutu, Desmond. The Today Show, NBC, 9 Jan. 1985.

"A fair day's-wages for a fair day's work:" it is as just a demand as Governed men ever made of Governing. It is the everlasting right of man.

Thomas Carlyle

Past and Present

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Topic

Workers' rights Human rights Citizen and state

Author

Thomas Carlyle

Source

Past and Present

Language

English

Time

1843 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Carlyle, Thomas. Past and Present. London: Chapman and Hall, 1843, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Carlyle, Thomas. Past and Present, edited by David R. Sorensen and Brent E. Kinser. Oxford University Press, 2023, bk. 1, ch. 3.

Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact.

Honoré de Balzac

La Comédie humaine

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Topic

Equality Human rights

Author

Honoré de Balzac

Source

La Duchesse de Langeais La Comédie humaine

Medium

Novel

Language

French

Time

1834 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

De Balzac, Honoré. Ne touchez pas la hache [Don’t Touch the Axe]. L'Écho de la Jeune France, 1834.

Whatever each man can separately do, without trespassing upon others, he has a right to do for himself; and he has a right to a fair portion of all which society, with all its combinations of skill and force, can do in his favor.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

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Topic

Freedom Human rights Political theory Politics

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

Killing them, therefore, cannot be equated with killing normal human beings, or any other self-conscious beings...No infant-disabled or not-has as strong a claim to life as beings capable of seeing themselves as distinct entities, existing over time.

Peter Singer

Practical Ethics

On killing infants.

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Topic

Human rights

Author

Peter Singer

Source

Practical Ethics

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. Cambridge University Press, 1979, ch. 7.

It takes no compromising to give people their rights... It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.

Harvey Milk

More information about this quote

Topic

Human rights Oppression

Speaker

Harvey Milk

Language

English

Time

1973 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Milk, Harvey. Speech to the Joint International Longshoremen & Warehousemen's Union of San Francisco and to the Lafayette Club. 30 Sept. 1973, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Most people, no doubt, when they espouse human rights, make their own mental reservations about the proper application of the word "human."

Suzanne LaFollette

The Beginnings of Emancipation

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Topic

Human rights

Author

Suzanne LaFollette

Source

The Beginnings of Emancipation Concerning Women

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

LaFollette, Suzanne. Concerning Women. Albert & Charles Boni, 1926, ch. 1.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

Thomas Jefferson

A Summary View of the Rights of British America

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Topic

Natural law Human rights

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Source

A Summary View of the Rights of British America

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1774 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. A Summary View of the Rights of British America. Williamsburg, 1774.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "A Summary View of the Rights of British America." Jefferson: Political Writings. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

John F. Kennedy

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy

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Topic

Human rights Natural law

Speaker

John F. Kennedy

Source

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Kennedy, John F. "Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1961, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense,—nonsense upon stilts.

Jeremy Bentham

More information about this quote

Topic

Human rights Natural law

Author

Jeremy Bentham

Source

Anarchical Fallacies; being an Examination of the Declarations of Rights issued during the French Revolution The Works of Jeremy Bentham

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1832 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Bentham, Jeremy. "Anarchical Fallacies; being an Examination of the Declarations of Rights issued during the French Revolution." The Works of Jeremy Bentham. Vol. 2, Edinburgh: William Tait, 1843.

We believe that all men have a right to equal justice under law and equal opportunity to share in the common good. We believe that all men have a right to freedom of thought and expression. We believe that all men are created equal because they are created in the image of God.

Harry Truman

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman

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Topic

Human rights

Speaker

Harry Truman

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Harry Truman Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1949 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Truman, Harry S. "Second Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1949, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion.

William Lloyd Garrison

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Topic

Natural law Human rights

Speaker

William Lloyd Garrison

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1853 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Garrison, William Lloyd. Speech at a Woman's Rights Convention. Woman's Rights Convention. 6 Sept. 1853, Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, NY, USA.

The slave trade is contrary to the laws of God and to the rights of men.

David Hartley (the Younger)

More information about this quote

Topic

Slave trade Slavery Human rights Natural law

Speaker

David Hartley (the Younger)

Source

A Memoir of Granville Sharp

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Harley, David. Speech before the House of Commons. 1776, Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK.

Every man, when he comes to be sensible of his natural rights, and to feel his own importance, will consider himself as fully equal to any other person whatever.

Joseph Priestley

More information about this quote

Topic

Natural law Human rights Equality

Author

Joseph Priestley

Source

An Essay on the First Principles of Government

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1768 1760s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Priestley, Joseph. An Essay on the First Principles of Government. London: J. Dodsley, 1768.

Current Citation

Priestley, Joseph. "An Essay on the First Principles of Government." Priestley: Political Writings. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Surely of all 'rights of man,' this right of the ignorant man to be guided by the wiser, to be, gently or forcibly, held in the true course by him, is the indisputablest.

Thomas Carlyle

More information about this quote

Topic

Human rights Paternalism Politics

Author

Thomas Carlyle

Source

Chartism

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1840 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Carlyle, Thomas. Chartism. London: James Frases, 1840, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Carlyle, Thomas. "Chartism." Thomas Carlyle: Selected Writings. Penguin Classics, 2015.