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

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• 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 ...”

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• 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

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• Any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers. This political judgment, moreover, is not simply or primarily a right, but like self-preservation, a duty to God. As such it is a judgment that men cannot part with according to the God of Nature. It is the first and foremost of our inalienable rights without which we can preserve no other.

  John Locke

  Wisdom, Gun, Men

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• 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

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• 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).

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• 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

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• 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).

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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.

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• A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.

  Thomas Jefferson

  4th Of July, Rights, Law

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Late President of the United States”, p.118

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• Human beings have an inalienable right to invent themselves.

  Germaine Greer

  Humans, Human Beings, Self Discovery

  The Times 1 Feb. 1986

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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.

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• 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)

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• Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

  Cory Doctorow

  Happiness, Men, Power

  Cory Doctorow (2010). “Little Brother”, p.235, Tor Teen

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• 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.

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

  Walter E. Williams

  Men, Independence, Unalienable Rights

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• We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Unalienable Rights, Sacred

  Declaration of Independence (1776)

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• 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”

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• 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.

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• 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.

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

  John Ciardi

  Funny, Umpires, America

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