Life must be lived and curiosity kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world ... Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Universal human rights start in small, personal spaces where individuals seek equality and dignity.
Eleanor Roosevelt emphasizes that the concept of universal human rights is not just a grand ideal but must begin in the everyday lives of individuals. True justice, opportunity, and dignity arise in the small, often overlooked places close to home, highlighting the importance of grassroots activism for the rights of every person. If these rights do not hold significance in these intimate spaces, they lack true value on a larger scale.
Themes
Human RightsJusticeEqualityDignityDiscrimination
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech on social justice to highlight the importance of local advocacy.
More from Eleanor Roosevelt
All quotes →Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
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You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
Our children should learn the general framework of their government and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government. It must not be a distant thing, someone else's business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know.
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I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do.
Eleanor RooseveltRead
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