Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. — Mother Teresa
Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization. — Shirin Ebadi
Human rights are women's rights, and women's rights are human rights. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely - and the right to be heard. — Hillary Clinton
Human rights are inscribed in the hearts of people; they were there long before lawmakers drafted their first proclamation. — Mary Robinson
Human Rights for everyone is the necessary foundation upon which all of us may build a world where everybody may live in peace and serenity and plenty. — Michael Douglas
The issue of human rights is one of the most fundamental human issues and also one of the most sensitive and controversial. — Ali Khamenei
Without peace, there is little hope for human rights — Martin Ennals
Everyone has a right to peaceful coexistence, the basic personal freedoms, the alleviation of suffering, and the opportunity to lead a productive life. — Jimmy Carter
Women's rights are an essential part of the overall human rights agenda, trained on the equal dignity and ability to live in freedom all people should enjoy. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The basis of peace and stability, in any society, has to be the fullest respect for the human rights of all its people. — John Hume
By virtue of being born to humanity, every human being has a right to the development and fulfillment of his potentialities as a human being. — Ashley Montagu
It has long been recognized that an essential element in protecting human rights was a widespread knowledge among the population of what their rights are and how they can be defended. — Boutros Boutros-Ghali
To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. — Nelson Mandela
Tolerance and human rights require each other. — Simon Wiesenthal
A child, like all other human beings, has inalienable rights. — Lucretia Mott
Short Human Rights Quotes
There can be no peace without justice and respect for human rights. — Irene Khan
All sentient beings should have at least one right—the right not to be treated as property — Gary L. Francione
Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased. — Shirley Chisholm
The right to happiness is fundamental. — Anna Pavlova
Your rights matter, because you never know when you're going to need them. — Edward Snowden
Women's empowerment is intertwined with respect for human rights. — Mahnaz Afkhami
Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself. — Robert Green Ingersoll
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home. — Eleanor Roosevelt
Psychiatry does not commit human rights abuse. It is a human rights abuse. — Thomas Szasz
Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts. — Mary Robinson
Top 10 Human Rights Quotes
The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift demanding no less binding moral responsibilities than the friendship of a human being. — Konrad Lorenz
God requires that we assist the animals, when they need our help. Each being (human or creature) has the same right of protection. — Francis of Assisi
We all need to get the balance right between action and reflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock. — Queen Elizabeth II
The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man. — Charles Darwin
Every man has a right to his own opinion. Every race has a right to its own action; therefore let no man persuade you against your will, let no other race influence you against your own. — Marcus Garvey
The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others. — Julian Bond
Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. — Thomas Jefferson
We must stop constantly fighting for human rights and equal justice in an unjust system, and start building a society where equal rights are an integral part of the design. — Jacque Fresco
We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It's our basic human right. — Aretha Franklin
Human Rights Image Quotes
Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul. — Pythagoras
A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. — William Blake
Iran has a dismal record on human rights. — Howard Berman
To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.
Universal Declaration Of Human Rights Quotes
Israel does not respect the principles or purposes of the United Nations charter nor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. — Evo Morales
We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind, that is the approval by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. — Eleanor Roosevelt
The Universal Declaration... as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations...it not only crystallizes the political thought of our times on these matters, but it has also influenced the thinking of legislators all over the world. — Dag Hammarskjold
The abuse of women and girls is the most pervasive
I don't have any doubts either about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps some more should be added to the list, but I don't have the slightest doubt about human rights. — Antonio Tabucchi
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... stands as a landmark achievement in the history of human liberty. — George W. Bush
Terrorists and their allies believe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the American Bill of Rights and every charter of liberty ever written are lies to be burned and destroyed and forgotten. — George W. Bush
Lgbt Human Rights Quotes
All people deserve to be treated with dignity and have their human rights respected, no matter who they are or whom they love. — Hillary Clinton
It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments are bound to protect them. — Hillary Clinton
I trust that the space for LGBT community in Singapore will continue to grow, and that we will eventually have equality and freedom, even as the world begins to recognise that LGBT rights are human rights. — Ivan Heng
The smallest minority on earth in the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
It is because the human experience is universal that human rights are universal. — Hillary Clinton
No practice or tradition trumps the human rights that belong to all of us. — Hillary Clinton
What was once justified as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled as an unconscionable violation of human rights. — Hillary Clinton
It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay. — Hillary Clinton
Gay rights and human rights are one and the same. — Hillary Clinton
My own country's record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect. — Hillary Clinton
Like being a woman, like being a racial religious tribal or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights. — Hillary Clinton
Human Rights Day Quotes
...let us continue to work together to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human rights, to promote freedom, security and peace in all nations. — Kofi Annan
One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
We should cease to talk about vague and unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better. — George F. Kennan
Factual information alone isn't sufficient to guide you through life's labyrinthine tests. You need and deserve regular deliveries of uncanny revelation. One of your inalienable rights as a human being should therefore be to receive a mysteriously useful omen every day of your life. — Rob Brezsny
We may yet live to see the day when women will be no longer news! And it cannot come too soon. I want to be a peaceful, happy, normal human being, pursuing my unimpeded way through life, never having to stop to explain, defend or apologize for my sex. — Nellie L. McClung
The very right to be human is denied every day to hundreds of millions of people as a result of poverty, the unavailability of basic necessities such as food, jobs, water and shelter, education, health care and a healthy environment. — Nelson Mandela
I have rightfully no other business each day but to do God's work as a servant, constantly regarding His pleasure. May I have grace to live above every human motive, simply with God and to God. — Henry Martyn
We believe that human rights transcend boundaries and must prevail over state sovereignty. — Jose Ramos-Horta
If your knowledge teaches you not to rise above human weakness and misery and lead your fellow man on the right path, you are indeed a man of little worth and will remain such till Judgment Day. — Kahlil Gibran
Liberal democracy - as you know, in the old days, we were saying we want socialism with a human face. Today's left effectively offers global capitalism with a human face, more tolerance, more rights and so on. So the question is, is this enough or not? Here I remain a Marxist: I think not. — Slavoj Zizek
Basic Human Rights Quotes
This is not just Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is the beginning of a war against Europe, against European structures, against democracy, against basic human rights, against a global order of law, rules and peaceful coexistence. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy
We must build a movement for education, not incarceration. A movement for jobs, not jails. A movement that will end all forms of discrimination against people released from prison - discrimination that denies them basic human rights to work, shelter and food. — Michelle Alexander
The basic problem affecting the Pakistan today is human rights. Islamic fundamentalists have no roots among the common people and while they are pushing hard for religious fundamentalists to take hold, the common people still seek change through humanitarian and common human rights law. — Abdul Sattar Edhi
To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say, write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic, but fundamental, right. Without it, human beings are reduced to automatons. — Ma Jian
It's time to recognise the internet as a basic human right. That means guaranteeing affordable access for all, ensuring internet packets are delivered without commercial or political discrimination, and protecting the privacy and freedom of web users regardless of where they live. — Tim Berners-Lee
Basically we could not have peace, or an atmosphere in which peace could grow, unless we recognized the rights of individual human beings... their importance, their dignity... and agreed that was the basic thing that had to be accepted throughout the world. — Eleanor Roosevelt
We can never have too much preparation and training. We must be a strong competitor. We must adhere staunchly to the basic principle that anything less than full equality is not enough. If we compromise on that principle our soul is dead. — Ralph Bunche
Old ideas die hard. We've had thousands of years of women having almost no rights. Parts of the world are in a struggle toward very basic human rights for women, and most of the world isn't even there yet. And it's going to take a long time to change these attitudes. — KaThe Kollwitz
When the man who feeds the world by toiling in the fields is himself deprived of the basic rights of feeding, sheltering, and caring for his own family, the whole community of man is sick. — Cesar Chavez
Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society... It is in fact totalitarianism. I find this is very scary stuff. — Stephen Harper
Democracy And Human Rights Quotes
A people inspired by democracy, human rights and economic opportunity will turn their back decisively against extremism. — Benazir Bhutto
The essence of globalization is a subordination of human rights, of labor rights, consumer, environmental rights, democracy rights, to the imperatives of global trade and investment. — Ralph Nader
How have relations with Iran and Belarus benefited Venezuela? We are interested in countries that have democracies, that respect human rights, that we have an affinity with. What affinity do we have with Iran? — Henrique Capriles Radonski
This must be a world of democracy and respect for human rights, a world freed from the horrors of poverty, hunger, deprivation and ignorance, relieved of the threat and the scourge of civil wars and external aggression and unburdened of the great tragedy of millions forced to become refugees. — Nelson Mandela
Grounded in international human rights, gender equality doesn’t just improve the lives of individual women, girls, and their families; it makes economic sense, strengthens democracy, and enables long-term sustainable progress. — Helen Clark
Let me reassure that the Kingdom of Cambodia a country with independence, neutrality, peace, freedom, democracy and human rights as you all have seen, shall be existing with no end. — Hun Sen
Global markets must be balanced by global values such as respect for human rights and international law, democracy, security and sustainable economic and environmental development. — Anna Lindh
To tackle the underlying roots of violence and conflict, we need a massive international effort to reduce poverty and injustice, and to promote development, democracy and human rights. — Clare Short
Hong Kong is not just a global financial center. It's also a place with a lot of teens and youth who love freedom, democracy, and human rights. — Joshua Wong
The spread of democracy, the new foundation of the rule of law, and the creation of fledgling representative governments that honor and respect human rights-together these actions spell out the increasing marginalization of the terrorists, as they have fewer and fewer places to run and hide. — John Cornyn
Declaration Of Human Rights Quotes
The basic human rights documents-the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man-were written by political, not by religious, leaders. — Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. — Eleanor Roosevelt
As corollaries to the right of every individual to life and to full participation in society, the Declaration incorporated in the list of human rights the right to work and a certain number of economic, social, and cultural rights. — Rene Cassin
America was founded on the principle of inalienable rights, not dictated duties. The Declaration of Independence states that every human being has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It does not state that he is born a slave to the needs of others. — Alex Epstein
The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or sovereign. — Mother Teresa
The UN declaration on human rights must always be first in line before religion or other cultural habits, in case of any conflict between them. — Bjorn Ulvaeus
The International Declaration of Human Rights says the right to housing, health, education should be guaranteed to everyone. The moment these things are provided, we will have a different world order and nuclear weapons will become less of a threat. — Bernard Lown
Cultural variety is always worth striving for, but must never precede the declaration of human rights. — Bjorn Ulvaeus
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. — Eleanor Roosevelt
Rampant technolgy eliminates luxury, but not by declaring privilege a human right; rather, it does so by both raising the general standard of living and cutting off the possibility of fulfilment. — Theodor Adorno
Democratic Rights Quotes
Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. — John F. Kennedy
If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end. — Bayard Rustin
A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess. — A. Philip Randolph
Republican is fine, if your a millionaire. Democrats is fair, if all you own is what you wear. Neither of them's really right, cause neither of them care. — Frank Zappa
I stand for simple justice, equal opportunity and human rights. The indispensable elements in a democratic society - and well worth fighting for. — Helen Suzman
I found that it was all right to have Martians saying things Democrats and Republicans could never say. — Rod Serling
And I think to be in NATO for the countries of our region, it means more guarantees for us, it means more responsibility for our common security, but it means fulfillment of all standards of civilized world, like protection of human rights and democratic mechanisms. — Aleksander Kwasniewski
The message was wrong, I knew that now, but maybe the tactics were right. Perhaps we could use the methods of the Islamist groups to create a counter-Islamist movement, to do da’wah for the democratic culture? — Maajid Nawaz
Since achieving their independence in 1992, the people of Croatia have built a democratic society based on the rule of law, respect for human rights, and a free market economy. — Elton Gallegly
I do believe the Democratic party has moved far to the right. I do believe that the party has a bunch of elephants running around in donkey clothes. — Al Sharpton
Political Rights Quotes
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
A Bill of Rights that means what the majority wants it to mean is worthless. — Antonin Scalia
The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders...tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. — Hermann Goring
It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong. — Voltaire
All talk on Islamic States is just an empty dream. No man in his right sense would accept a nation which bases its political administration on religion, and in a country like Malaysia with its multiracial and multireligious people, there is no room for an Islamic State. — Tunku Abdul Rahman
We hear a constant clamor for rights, rights, always rights, but so very little about responsibility. And we have forgotten God. The need now is for selflessness, for a spirit of sacrifice, for a willingness to put aside personal gains for the salvation of the whole Western world. — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
When plunder becomes a way of life, men create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. — Frederic Bastiat
It is unthinkable that a national government which represents women should ignore the issue of the right of all women to political freedom. — Lucy Burns
I had a right to my own political opinions. I am a Southern woman, born with Revolutionary blood in my veins. Freedom of speech and of thought were my birthright, guaranteed, signed and sealed by the blood of our fathers. — Rose O'Neal Greenhow
The Church must take right ground in regard to politics... Politics are a part of a religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as part of their duty to God... God will bless or curse this nation, according to the course Christians take in politics. — Charles Grandison Finney
Legal Rights Quotes
Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims. — Ayn Rand
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution. — Thomas Jefferson
The right to be able to speak openly and confidentially to another is, at times, codified legally if not ethically. — Gad Saad
There have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal. Sometimes to do the right thing you have to break the law. — Edward Snowden
My feminism, as intended by me, extends to empowering women to make legal choices, not to judge the legal choices they make. My fight is for rights. — Maajid Nawaz
All I did in Chicago was to exercise my legal right to speak on my own behalf and I was given four years in jail as a result. But I think the most serious injustice perpetrated by the court system in America is the inability of a black man to get a jury of his peers. — Bobby Seale
Well, when I think of steroids I think of an image. You have the advantage over someone, which is a form of cheating. I guess it wouldn't be right unless it was legal for everybody. Reason it's not legal for everybody is because it can hurt people seriously. — Evander Holyfield
If it is right to be legally married, it is right to be legally divorced ... To be deprived of a Divorce is like being shut up in prison because someone attempted to kill you. It is just as honorable to get out of matrimonial trouble legally, as to be freed from any other wrong. — Mary Edwards Walker
Prior to Roe , ... whether one could obtain a legal abortion in the face of an unwanted pregnancy was a crap shoot. For 30 years now, it's been a constitutionally guaranteed right — David Garrow
We must respect each other's right to choose a collective destiny, and the opportunity to develop the legal and political rights for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples so that we may enjoy the right to maintain our culture, our heritage and our land, as a united Australia. — Jackie Huggins
Constitutional Rights Quotes
We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. — Abraham Lincoln
History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure. — Thurgood Marshall
Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. — George Washington
This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it. — Abraham Lincoln
To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, we hold as fundamental today. — Thurgood Marshall
The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge right or make good decision. — Alexander Hamilton
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. — Alice Paul
My answer to the racial problem in America is to not deal with it at all. The founding fathers dealt with it when they made the Constitution. — James Meredith
One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. — James K. Polk
Cruelty to animals is one of the most significant vices of a low and ignoble people. Wherever one notices them, they constitute a sign of ignorance and brutality which cannot be painted over even by all the evidence of wealth and luxury. — Alexander von Humboldt
I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry and unhappy like we do. I feel very deeply about vegetarianism and the animal kingdom. It was my dog Boycott who led me to question the right of humans to eat other sentient beings. — Cesar Chavez
We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace. — Albert Schweitzer
If it is right for men to fight for their freedom, and God knows what the human race would be like today if men had not, since time began, fought for their freedom, then it is right for women to fight for their freedom and the freedom of the children they bear. — Emmeline Pankhurst
It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the existence of man. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of anything else. — Maimonides
We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism. — Rigoberta Menchu
You can imprison a man, but not an idea. You can exile a man, but not an idea.
You can kill a man, but not an idea. — Benazir Bhutto
I believe in a world of justice and human rights for all. A world where girls can grow up free of fear of abuse. A world where women are treated with the respect and dignity that is their right. A world where poverty is not acceptable. My dear young friends, you can make this your world. — Ban Ki-moon
I am opposed to globalism, I am opposed to colonialism, I am opposed to any sort of complusion of one nation over another. (...) I also deeply believe in human rights. — David Duke
The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased. — Alexander Hamilton
Free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth. — Liu Xiaobo
Because I'm a civil rights activist, I am also an animal rights activist. Animals and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel and vicious taking of life. We shouldn't be a part of it. — Dick Gregory
We must go beyond the arrogance of human rights. We must go beyond the ignorance of civil rights. We must step into the reality of natural rights because all of the natural world has a right to existence and we are only a small part of it. There can be no trade-off. — John Trudell
I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation. — Coretta Scott King
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. — John F. Kennedy
Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. — Nelson Mandela
Human rights are universal and indivisible. Human freedom is also indivisible: if it is denied to anyone in the world, it is therefore denied, indirectly, to all people. This is why we cannot remain silent in the face of evil or violence; silence merely encourages them. — Vaclav Havel
People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
No human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal? — Elie Wiesel
The law has no claim to human respect. It has no civilizing mission; its only purpose is to protect exploitation. — Peter Kropotkin
I don't have any understanding of a human being who doesn't respect the beauty of life and that goes for all creatures that have thoughts, feelings and needs. — Alicia Silverstone
There is no power in the world that can stop the forward march of free men and women when they are joined in the solidarity of human brotherhood. — Walter Reuther
We are all one family in the world. Building a community that empowers everyone to attain their full potential through each of us respecting each other's dignity, rights and responsibilities makes the world a better place to live. — Pope John Paul II
The task of organizing human happiness needs the active cooperation of man and woman: it cannot be relegated to one half of the world. — Lillian Wald
It's not about loving animals. It's about fighting injustice. My whole goal is for humans to have as little contact as possible with animals. — Gary Yourofsky
There are no nations! There is only humanity. And if we don't come to understand that right soon, there will be no nations, because there will be no humanity. — Isaac Asimov
We were granted the right to exist by the God of our fathers at the glimmer of the dawn of human civilization nearly 4,000 years ago. For that right, which has been sanctified in Jewish blood from generation to generation, we have paid a price unexampled in the annals of the nations. — Menachem Begin
In Conclusion
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