HUMAN RIGHTS
PROSE AND POETRY

THE HUMAN FAMILY.  Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge, Now, therefore, The General Assembly, Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples.  Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  

COMMON STANDARD OF ACHIEVEMENT.  In giving our approval to the Declaration today it is of primary importance that we keep clearly in mind the basic character of the document. It is not a treaty; it is not an international agreement. It is not and does not purport to be a statement of law or of legal obligation. It is a Declaration of basic principles of human rights and freedoms, to be stamped with the approval of the General Assembly by formal vote of its members, and to serve as a common standard of achievement for all peoples of all nations. Eleanor Roosevelt on the adoption of the UDHR, December 9, 1948.  

UNALIENABLE 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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Declaration of Independence.

NATURAL RIGHTS.  The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man.  (Le but de toute association politique est la conservation des droits naturels et imprescriptibles de l'homme). Declaration of the Rights of Man

FOUR FREEDOMS.  In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.  The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world.  The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.  The third is freedom from want--which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.  The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world…The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society…Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.   

THE PHILOSOPHERS HAVE ONLY INTERPRETED THE WORLD IN VARIOUS WAYS.  THE POINT IS TO CHANGE IT. Die Philosophen haben die Welt nur verschieden interpretiert, es kommt aber darauf an, sie zu verändarn. Karl Marx

TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEEDS.   In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly -- only then then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs (Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen!) Karl Marx, Critique of the Gotha Programme.

INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE.  We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.  Martin Luther King, Letter From a Birmingham Jail.

THE MAJESTY OF THE LAW. La majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les ponts de mendier dans la rue et de voler du pain. Translation: The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. Anatole France, The Red Lily, chapter 7.   

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. John Donne, Meditation XVII from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions

THE GOLDEN RULE.  Therefore all thing whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.  Matthew, 7:12.

EYE OF A NEEDLE.  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew, 20:24.

HUMAN BEINGS ARE NOT CONDEMNED, because of their biological constitution, to annihilate each other or to be at the mercy of a cruel, self-inflicted fate.  Albert Einstein.