Quotes About Human Rights

#1. The proper relation of the Church to the world cannot be deduced from natural law or rational law or from universal human rights, but only from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#2. In this new millennium it is more important to defend the rights of the Mother Earth to guarantee human rights.

Evo Morales

#3. The human rights record within China seems to rise and fall over time, but it's very clear that in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and since then, there's been a greater intolerance of dissent and the human rights record of China has been going in the wrong direction.

Gary Locke

#4. . . The Democratic Party puts human rights and human welfare first. . . . These Republican gluttons of privilege are cold men. They are cunning men. . . . They want a return of the Wall Street economic dictatorship. .

David McCullough

#5. 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

#6. It is individuals who have human rights, not religions or beliefs

Ian Harris

#7. Think there is less cynicism about human rights than there was. The work we are doing is part of the overall pattern of human development, whatever the political system, whatever the country, whatever the cultural background, whatever the religion.

Martin Ennals

#8. The passage of time hasn't changed the fact that abortion is a serious, lethal violation of fundamental human rights, and that women and children deserve better, and that the demands of justice, generosity, and compassion require that the right to life be guaranteed to everyone.

Chris Smith

#9. It would be easy to define terrorism as attacks against human rights and international humanitarian law forbids attacks against innocent non-combatants which is often the definition used for terrorism.

Joichi Ito

#10. I refer to calls for humanitarian intervention in the affairs of another state - a new idea, this - even when they are made under the pretext of defending human rights and freedoms.

Boris Yeltsin

#11. When there is liberty, you expect a higher degree of freedom and not human rights abuse.

Auliq Ice

#12. Additionally, any Human Rights Council reform that allows countries with despicable human rights records to remain as members, such as China and Saudi Arabia, is not real reform.

Michael McCaul

#13. True rights, such as those in our Constitution, or those considered to be natural or human rights, exist simultaneously among people. That means exercise of a right by one person does not diminish those held by another.

Walter E. Williams

#14. Whatever happened after the liberation of Krajina, this was in no way a violation of human rights by Croatian authorities.

Franjo Tudjman

#15. Credit is a human right that should be treated as a human right. If credit can be accepted as a human right, then all other human rights will be easier to establish.

Muhammad Yunus

#16. Many more people in the world are concerned about sports than human rights.

Samuel P. Huntington

#17. I worked on human rights projects in Haiti, Cameroon, and East Asia, and the bigger ones tended to do with agriculture. My role was to make sure that there was equity that remained at the base of those projects, with the workers. I had a couple of different lives.

Sanjay Rawal

#18. The right to life is the first among human rights.

Pope Francis

#19. As a human rights activist it is concerning to me that those committing atrocities against vulnerable people view these atrocities as 'progress', and assert with pride and conviction that they are 'Christians' and that they are doing 'God's will'.

Christina Engela

#20. The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens. As Americans, we are blessed with circumstances that protect our human rights and our religious freedom, but for many people around the world, deprivation and persecution have become a way of life.

Jimmy Carter

#21. Climate change is the greatest threat to human rights in the 21st century.

Mary Robinson

#22. His concern was that if there were a few rights specified in the Constitution, future generations may forget that those are just examples and that the Constitution itself protects all human rights.

Thom Hartmann

#23. But if USA has 1.3 billion people, USA would have the same human rights problem just like China.

Alex Chiu

#24. They talk about human rights until the rights include things they personally do not like as alternatives. There needs to be Frank discussions. And Shirley can join too because the pun works. The ideas of human beings of all demeanor and venues are at stake here.

Leviak B. Kelly

#25. We must do all we can to help improve the deplorable human rights situation of the North Korean people.

Evan Bayh

#26. Why should we be denied basic human rights just because we've messed up our relationships?

Nick Hornby

#27. Respect for human rights is not social work; it is not merely an act of compassion. It is the first obligation of government and the source of its legitimacy.

Ronald Reagan

#28. On the human rights side, administration policy has been marked by indifference. When the people of Iran flooded the streets to protest the theft of their presidential election in June 2009, President Obama was silent for 11 days.

Elliott Abrams

#29. The days of looking the other way while despotic regimes trample human rights, rob their nations' wealth, and then excuse their failings by feeding their people a steady diet of anti-Western hatred are over.

Dick Cheney

#30. The theory of relativity worked out by Mr. Einstein, which is in the domain of natural science, I believe can also be applied to the political field. Both democracy and human rights are relative concepts - and not absolute and general.

Jiang Zemin

#31. Water must be free for sustenance needs. Since nature gives water to us free of cost, buying and selling it for profit violates our inherent right to nature's gift and denies the poor of their human rights.

Vandana Shiva

#32. The concept of maximum promotion of human rights to the expense of the majority of people in fact undermines the entire concept of the human community.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

#33. However, if the religions in essence merely repeat statements from the United Nations Human Rights Declaration, such a Declaration becomes superfluous; an ethic is more than rights.

Hans Kung

#34. It's monstrous that Europe, which is fighting for human rights, refused seriously sick Slobodan Milosevic treatment.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky

#35. Racism is an attack on the very notion of the universality of human rights. It systematically denies certain people the enjoyment of their full human rights because of their colour, race, ethnicity, descent or national origin.

Irene Khan

#36. Norway did not even have a revolution at the time the rest of Europe was busy figuring out human rights and stuff, because we were busy fighting over how to spell it.

Erik Naggum

#37. President Trump's health care plan is a human rights disaster.

Steven Magee

#38. Cultural variety is always worth striving for, but must never precede the declaration of human rights.

Bjorn Ulvaeus

#39. Contrary to what certain governments say, human rights are universal. Arbitrary detention, torture and discrimination hurt the human dignity of anybody, whatever his or her country of origin, religion, descent, or any other ground.

Shirin Ebadi

#40. Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society. For building stable peace we must find ways to provide opportunities for people to live decent lives.

Muhammad Yunus

#41. 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

#42. We don't know yet how to build a society which is environmentally sustainable, which is shareable with everybody on the planet, which promotes stability and democracy and human rights, and which is achievable in the time-frame necessary to make it through the challenges we face.

Alex Steffen

#43. There are two things that I put my focus on. One is the fight against AIDS and finding a cure. The other is human rights.

Judith Light

#44. We like to engage in a normal publishing effort, which is to act in a responsible manner and make sure the material is not likely to harm anyone, that it is properly investigated by quality news organizations, and by lawyers and human rights groups and so on.

Julian Assange

#45. For those who have envisioned the State of Israel to be a democracy, which although primarily a Jewish polity for Jews is one in which non-Jews can become citizens and enjoy equal civil rights with the Jewish majority, the question of natural law is the question of human rights.

David Novak

#46. Alleged commitment to democracy and human rights is mere rhetoric, directly contrary to actual policy.

Noam Chomsky

#47. The U.S. government officials lie when they talk about human rights. They're a bunch of hypocrites and liars.
You can't take it seriously.

Eqbal Ahmad

#48. The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens in all our communities.

Eleanor Roosevelt

#49. Any person who pursues human rights in Iran must live with fear from birth to death, but I have learned to overcome my fear.

Shirin Ebadi

#50. As I prepare for my second term as Secretary-General, I am thinking hard about how we can meet the expectations of the millions of people who see the U.N.'s blue flag as a banner of hope. We have to continue our life-saving work in peacekeeping, human rights, development and humanitarian relief.

Ban Ki-moon

#51. Democratic societies can no longer give religious fanatics a free hand to abuse and murder non believers. Such action betrays contempt for the basic human rights which animate any democracy with meaning.

Armstrong Williams

#52. In the struggle for the rights of the poor in Central America and other places where globalization is bringing its negative effects, there is no organization more effective than the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

Thomas Gumbleton

#53. In the struggle for human rights and justice, Negros will make a mistake if they become bitter and indulge in hate campaigns.

Martin Luther King Jr.

#54. So on this Human Rights Day, let us rededicate ourselves to the advancement of human rights and freedoms for all, and pledge always to live by the ideals we promote to the world.

Barack Obama

#55. Anyone can be a moral individual, concerned with human rights and problems; but only a college professor, a trained expert, can solve technical problems by 'sophisticated' methods. Ergo, it is only problems of the latter sort that are important or real.

Noam Chomsky

#56. The term 'human rights defender,' incidentally, isn't something I or my attorneys came up with. Personally, I find it a little embarrassing.

Ward Churchill

#57. The people in Arab countries are now speaking out and asking many questions about human rights, minorities, religion, democracy, "the other," and so on.

Hassan Blasim

#58. The military prison at Guantanamo was the equivalent of any concentration camp in Nazi Germany, the most shameful example of the cruel and complete abolition of all human rights by the Government, all in the name of the war on terrorism.

Kenneth Eade

#59. We cannot speak of human rights in other countries unless we are going to do our utmost to protect the rights of our own people here at home.

Jimmy Carter

#60. The movement to abolish the death penalty needs the religious community because the heart of religion is about compassion, human rights, and the indivisible dignity of each human person made in the image of God.

Helen Prejean

#61. My work is inspired by my passion for human rights issues and the environment, and by my love of family, music and nature.

Susan Dorothea White

#62. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights.

Desmond Tutu

#63. That term, 'human rights', makes me ill.Human rights are only for 'humans', therefore for the West. And for the rest of the Planet: there, the 'human rights' are used to discredit uncomfortable, even 'hostile' governments through countless implants like NGOs.

Andre Vltchek

#64. Look at what I've done my entire life. I have been working on behalf of civil rights, women's rights, human rights for years and I know how challenging it is to change our political system and I have the highest regard for those who have put themselves on the line.

Hillary Clinton

#65. In the future, human rights will be increasingly a universal criterion for designing ethical systems.

Mahnaz Afkhami

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

Suzanne La Follette

#67. Deny human rights, and however little you may wish to do so, you will find yourself abjectly kneeling at the feet of that old-world god, Force.

Auberon Herbert

#68. Afghan human rights campaigners worry that U.S. forces may be using secret detention sites like the one allegedly at Rish-Khor to carry out interrogations away from prying eyes. The U.S. military, however, denies even having knowledge of the facility.

Anand Gopal

#69. Sudan replaced the U.S. on the U.N. Human Rights Commission joining Syria, and Cuba. So now, the commission members have no interest in upholding the stated mission of the panel. It's just like the Senate Ethics Committee.

Argus Hamilton

#70. I have defended democracy, human rights, and brotherhood between peoples. And I'll keep doing so for as long as I live.

Leyla Zana

#71. One cannot fail to notice the inconsistency of those rejecting human rights: their rejection takes place in the public square created by human rights. It is difficult to reject human rights without using them.

Filip Spagnoli

#72. Their prejudice allowed white Southerners to look the other way when blacks were denied their most basic human rights, and it encouraged the worst of them to engage in unspeakable acts of cruelty and violence.

Linda Chavez

#73. The American people cannot close their eyes to abuses of human rights and injustice, whether they occur among friend or adversary or even on our own shores.

Ronald Reagan

#74. Those religions that are oppressive to women are also against democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression.

Taslima Nasrin

#75. Over the past year, several cases of human rights abuses, specifically sexual exploitation and abuse, by individuals involved in U.N. peacekeeping operations have raised the suspicions of many Members of Congress and members of the International Relations Committee.

Michael McCaul

#76. For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival, liberty is human rights, the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants.

Jimmy Carter

#77. There is not a single country in the world that is not interested in doing business with China. And no one is seriously concerned about human rights. But Africans are criticized for wanting to do business with China.

Jacob Zuma

#78. Human rights for everybody, there is no difference.
Live on! And be yourself!

Macklemore

#79. Liberty, freedom and democracy are very fuzzy words, but human rights is very specific.

Joichi Ito

#80. Ashington, where the human rights of terrorists are often given high priority. And I am certain liberal politicians would defend their position to the death. Because everyone knows liberals have never been wrong about anything. You can ask them. Anytime.

Marcus Luttrell

#81. Human rights are particularly cherished by the West, which has never acknowledged economic rights. Human rights mean freedom from politcal oppression, tyranny and abuse, while economic oppression, tyranny and abuse are built into the very structures of globalization.

Jeremy Seabrook

#82. The effects of human rights education can be dramatic in awakening people to the value and power of their own lives, as shown in the following stories.

Daisaku Ikeda

#83. We are fighting for the right to live as free humans in this society. In fact, we are actually fighting for rights that are even greater than civil rights and that is human rights.

Malcolm X

#84. For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child. A child knows what is fair and isn't fair, and justice derives from that knowledge.

Tom Stoppard

#85. While we may be of different faiths, we have a strong sense of faith, family, community. We hold the values of freedom and human rights very high and I think that those are all a part of a very strong quilt that binds us together.

Bob Menendez

#86. What about our human rights,' demanded Carl, who'd gathered a small deputation of kids within minutes. 'There is a WAR ON,' said Crewman Devlin, shortly. I wondered if this meant grown-ups actually listen to you when there wasn't a war on, because somehow I was sceptical.

Sophia McDougall

#87. I've used the prestige and influence of having been a president of the United States as effectively as possible. And secondly, I've still been able to carry out my commitments to peace and human rights and environmental quality and freedom and democracy and so forth.

Jimmy Carter

#88. To all those who struggle for human rights for LGTB people

Eli Easton

#89. The 20th century was a century in which human rights were infringed upon in numerous parts of the world, and Japan also bears responsibility in that regard. I believe that we have to look at our own history with humility and think about our responsibility.

Shinzo Abe

#90. China will certainly pay more attention to human rights.

Liu Jingmin

#91. My vision is a Malawi where men and women live in peace and in harmony as equals enjoying their human rights.

Joyce Banda

#92. For me, campaigning and good business is also about putting forward solutions, not just opposing destructive practices or human rights abuses.

Anita Roddick

#93. Before she landed, Ms Clinton publicly downplayed the importance of human rights. At a press conference ahead of leaving, she beamingly implored the Chinese government to keep buying US debt, like a travelling saleswoman hawking a bill of goods.

Richard McGregor

#94. Three year sof unconditional MFN have not lead to any subtantial improvement in human rights, trade and nuclear proliferation practice of the Chinese government. In addition to the trade barriers, China has marred our trade relationship wit prison labor or export and other unfair trade practices.

Nancy Pelosi

#95. Human rights are not worthy of the name if they do not protect the people we don't like as well as those we do.

Trevor Phillips

#96. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a lobby group created by the Church of Scientology that runs the psychiatry museum, maintains that no mental diseases have ever been proven to exist.

Lawrence Wright

#97. Like a human rights lawyer who uses the law to rectify wrongs, I use filmic storytelling for the same effect.

Pamela Yates

#98. Violence is an evil thing, but when the guns are all in the hands of the men without respect for human rights, then men are really in trouble.

Louis L'Amour

#99. The stories from Iran's present and past are reminders that freedom, democracy and human rights, or fundamentalism, fascism and terrorism are not geographically and culturally determined, but universal.

Azar Nafisi

#100. The idea of human rights as a fundamental principle can be seen to underlie throughout Islamic teachings.

Ali Khamenei