Inalienable Rights Quotes

• Any law which violates the inalienable rights of man is essentially unjust and tyrannical; it is not a law at all.

  Maximilien Robespierre

  Freedom, Men, Rights

  'Dèclaration des droits de l'homme' 24 April 1793, article 6; this article, in slightly different form, is recorded as having figured in Robespierre's Projet of 21 April 1793

  123 Copy quote

  Show source

• Government itself is founded upon the great doctrine of the consent of the governed, and has its cornerstone in the memorable principle that men are endowed with inalienable rights.

  Leland Stanford

  Memorable, Men, Rights

  Leland Stanford (1887). “Co-operation of Labor: Views of Senator Leland Stanford of California. An Interview ...”

  41 Copy quote

  Show source

• Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation from government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment.

  Ronald Reagan

  Rights, Government, Liberty

  Ronald Reagan (2004). “Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches”, p.33, Simon and Schuster

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another; and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Equality, Men, Rights

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies: From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson”, p.278

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Pursuit Of Happiness, Government, People

  Declaration of Independence (1776).

  88 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Change, Happiness

  Declaration of Independence (1776).

  105 Copy quote

  Show source

• America derives its laws from its Constitution. It derives its values from the Bible. We don't get inalienable rights from the Constitution; we get them from God.

  Dennis Prager

  Rights, Law, America

  "A Response to My Many Critics - And a Solution" by Dennis Prager, www.realclearpolitics.com. ecember 05, 2006.

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• Law is often the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Law, Tyrants, Equal Rights

  Thomas Jefferson, Joyce Appleby, Terence Ball (1999). “Jefferson: Political Writings”, p.224, Cambridge University Press

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Men, Rights, Progress

  Calvin Coolidge (2001). “The Quotable Calvin Coolidge: Sensible Words for a New Century”, Images from the Past Incorporated

  20 Copy quote

  Show source

• Human beings have an inalienable right to invent themselves.

  Germaine Greer

  Humans, Human Beings, Self Discovery

  The Times 1 Feb. 1986

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Questions of natural right are triable by their conformity with the moral sense and reason of man.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Moral, Conformity

  Thomas Jefferson (1854). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson”, p.618

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government, Justice, Citizens

  Thomas Jefferson (1861). “Correspondence”, p.574

  28 Copy quote

  Show source

• And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

  Thomas Jefferson

  God, Support, Independence

  Declaration of Independence (1776)

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• Of distinction by birth or badge, [Americans] had no more idea than they had of the mode of existence in the moon or planets. They had heard only that there were such, and knew that they must be wrong.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Moon, Ideas, Birth

  Thomas Jefferson, Henry Augustine Washington (1854). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Miscellaneous: 4. Parliamentary manual; 5. The anas; 6. Miscellaneous papers”, p.270

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• I believe all Americans are born with certain inalienable rights. As a child of God, I believe my rights are not derived from the constitution. My rights are not derived from any government. My rights are not denied by any majority. My rights are because I exist. They were given to me and each of my fellow citizens by our creator, and they represent the essence of human dignity.

  Joe Biden

  Children, Believe, Rights

  "Promises to Keep". Book by Joe Biden, 2008.

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• The chief duty of governments, in so far as they are coercive, is to restrain those who would interfere with the inalienable rights of the individual, among which are the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness and the right to worship God according to the dictates of ones conscience.

  William Jennings Bryan

  Pursuit Of Happiness, Rights, Government

  William Jennings Bryan (1917). “Heart to Heart Appeals”

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• I may think I have inalienable rights to be alive and happy but I don't - life is a blessing.

  Terrence McNally

  Blessing, Thinking, Rights

  "Terrence McNally: Looking at AIDS Survivors". Interview with Sharon Bernstein, articles.latimes.com. March 4, 1990.

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• The principle of democracy is a recognition of the sovereign, inalienable rights of man as a gift from God, the Source of law.

  Fulton J. Sheen

  Men, Rights, Law

  "Whence Come Wars". Book by Fulton J. Sheen (p. 60), 1940.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• Nothing is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Rights, Morality

  Thomas Jefferson (1977). “The Portable Thomas Jefferson”, p.459, Penguin

  80 Copy quote

  Show source

• The constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.

  John Ciardi

  Funny, Umpires, America

  3 Copy quote

• An equal application of law to every condition of man is fundamental.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Equality, Men, Law

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies from the papers of T. Jefferson”

  2 Copy quote

  Show source

• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We...solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of a right ought to be free and independent states...and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Independent, Men, Pursuit Of Happiness

  Thomas Jefferson (1997). “Thomas Jefferson, His Words and Vision”, p.15, Peter Pauper Press, Inc.

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are
  created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
  inalienable rights; that among these are life, and the right to
  make that of another miserable by thrusting upon him an
  incalculable quantity of acquaintances; liberty, particularly the
  liberty to introduce persons to one another without first
  ascertaining if they are not already acquainted as enemies; and
  the pursuit of another's happiness with a running pack of
  strangers.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Running, Men, Rights

  Ambrose Bierce (2016). “The Devil's Dictionary: The Devil World”, p.115, 谷月社

  3 Copy quote

  Show source

• Talk about slavery! It is not the peculiar institution of the South. It exists wherever men are bought and sold, wherever a man allows himself to be made a mere thing or a tool, and surrenders his inalienable rights of reason and conscience. Indeed, this slavery is more complete than that which enslaves the body alone.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Rights, Judging

  "Complete Works of Henry David Thoreau".

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

  Walter E. Williams

  Men, Independence, Unalienable Rights

  21 Copy quote