Equality quotes
583 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside equality — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"In America everybody is of the opinion that he has no social superiors, since all men are equal, but he does not admit that he has no social inferiors, for, from the time of Jefferson onward, the doctrine that all men are equal applies only upwards, not downwards."
"Were the talents and virtues, which Heaven has bestowed on men, given merely to make then more obedient drudges, to be sacrificed to the follies and ambition of a few? Or, were not the noble gifts so equally dispensed with a divine purpose and law, that they should as nearly as possible be equally exerted, and the blessings of Providence be equally enjoyed by all?"
"All the citizens of a state cannot be equally powerful, but they may be equally free"
"Proclaim human equality as loudly as you like, Witless will serve his brother."
"Genuine equality between the sexes can only be realized in the process of the socialist transformation of society as a whole."
"Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you are dreadfully like other people."
"True freedom is to share All the chains our brothers wear, And, with heart and hand, to be Earnest to make others free!"
"Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect they are equal absolutely."
"The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more."
"Shame on such a morality that is worthy of pariahs, and that fails to recognize the eternal essence that exists in every living thing, and shines forth with inscrutable significance from all eyes that see the sun!"
"Under ideal conditions, the barrister and the bhangi (sweeper) should both get the same payment."
"And finally, in our time a beard is the one thing that a woman cannot do better than a man, or if she can her success is assured only in a circus."
"More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development."
"No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward a time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient than those of our Revolutionary ancestors."
"Our doctrine of equality and liberty and humanity comes from our belief in the brotherhood of man, through the fatherhood of God."
"You see, Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice. It makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties. It doubts our concern. It questions our commitment. Because there is no way we can look at what's happening in Africa, and if we're honest, conclude that it would ever be allowed to happen anywhere else."
"When the sun rises, it rises for everyone."
"As far as male and female are concerned, difference is a biological fact, whereas equality is a political, ethical and social concept. No rule of nature or of social organization says that the sexes have to be the same or do the same things in order to be social, political and economic equals."
"We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it."
"Equality of two domestic powers Breeds scrupulous faction."
