Equality sounds simple until you try to define it. These quotes wrestle with justice, fairness, civil rights, and the gap between how things are and how they should be. They come from activists, leaders, philosophers, and people who refused to accept the status quo.
“Marriage equality changed life for people.”
“I believe there is complete equality between men and women. And I believe those passages in the New Testament, not by Jesus, but by Paul, that say women should not adorn themselves, they should always wear hats or color their hair in church - things like that - I think they are signs of the times and should not apply to modern-day life.”
“I am a universalist, passionately devoted to the cause of equality within the human family.”
“I believe in the equality of man and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.”
“Gender equality will only be reached if we are able to empower women.”
“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
“Small natures require despotism to exercise their sinews, as great souls thirst for equality to give play to their heart.”
“I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity.”
“From the naturalistic point of view, all men are equal. There are only two exceptions to this rule of naturalistic equality: geniuses and idiots.”
“The rights of one sex, political and otherwise, are the same as those of the other sex, and this equality of rights ought to be fully recognized.”
“Here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.”
“How are men to be secured in any rights without instruction how to be secured in the equal exercise of those rights without equality of instruction? By instruction understand me to mean knowledge - just knowledge not talent, not genius, not inventive mental powers.”
“All the people like us are we, and everyone else is They.”
“The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality.”
“All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die.”
“Nobody really believes in equality anyway.”