Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Right; Rights
Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can. Samuel AdamsStatement of the Rights of the Colonists, etc. (1772).
He will hew to the line of right, let the chips fly where they may. Roscoe ConklingSpeech at the National Convention, Chicago, 1880, when General Grant was nominated for a third term.
The rule of the road is a parodox quite, If you drive with a whip or a thong; If you go to the left you are sure to be right, If you go to the right you are wrong. Henry ErskineRule of the Road.
For right is right, since God is God, And right the day must win; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin. F. W. FaberThe Right Must Win. St. 18.
Wherever there is a human being, I see God-given rights inherent in that being, whatever may be the sex or complexion. William Lloyd Garrison. In his Life. Vol. III. P. 390.
The equal right of all men to the use of land is as clear as their equal right to breathe the airit is a right proclaimed by the fact of their existence. For we cannot suppose that some men have a right to be in this world, and others no right. Henry GeorgeProgress and Poverty. Bk. VII. Ch. I.
And wanting the right rule they take chalke for cheese, as the saying is. Nicholas GrimaldPreface to his Trans. of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Three Bookes of Duties to Marcus his Sonne. Same expression in GowerConfessio Amantis.
For the ultimate notion of right is that which tends to the universal good; and when ones acting in a certain manner has this tendency he has a right thus to act. Francis HutchesonA System of Moral Philosophy. The General Notions of Rights and Laws Explained. Bk. II. Ch. III.
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, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas JeffersonDeclaration of Independence of the U. S. of America.
Let us have faith that Right makes Might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it. Abraham LincolnAddress. New York City, Feb. 21, 1859. See Henry J. Raymonds Life and Public Services of Lincoln. Ch. III.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right. Abraham LincolnSecond Inaugural Address. March 4, 1865.
Mensuraque juris Vis erat. Might was the measure of right. LucanPharsalia. I. 175. Found in Thucydides. IV. 86. PlautusTruncul. IV. 3. 30. Lucan. I. 175. SenecaHercules Furens. 291. SchillerWallensteins Camp. VI. 144.
Reparation for our rights at home, and security against the like future violations. William Pitt (Earl of Chatham)Letter to the Earl of Shelburne. Sept. 29, 1770.
All Nature is but art unknown to thee; All chance direction, which thou canst not see; All discord, harmony not understood; All partial evil, universal good; And spite of pride, in erring reasons spite, One truth is clear, Whatever is is right. PopeEssay on Man. Ep. I. L. 289.