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Whatever is my right as a man is also the right of another; and it becomes my duty to guarantee as well as to possess.
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“Whatever is my right as a man is also the right of another; and it becomes my duty to guarantee as well as to possess.”

Thomas Paine

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Source
Rights of Man
Date
1791–1792
Meaning

Meaning of “Whatever is my right as a man is…”

Paine makes rights reciprocal: claiming a right for oneself entails recognizing and defending the same right in others.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Rights of Man, Part I; represented through Moncure Daniel Conway’s public-domain Project Gutenberg collection.

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CommunityCompassionEqualityFreedomHumanityPhilosophyResponsibilityThought-Provoking Quotes That Invite ReflectionJusticeRights
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Society in equality is its normal state.
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“Society in equality is its normal state.”

John Stuart Mill · The Subjection of Women · 1869
Meaning & context

Mill contrasts relations organized around command and obedience with equal association, presenting equality as the normal direction of an improving society.

Source details

The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter II, printed page 79, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill contrasts command-and-obedience relations with equal association and states that society in equality is the normal state toward which improving social relations should move.

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I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow-creatures happy.
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“I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow-creatures happy.”

Thomas Paine · The Age of Reason · 1794–1796
Meaning & context

Paine’s profession of faith combines deistic belief with an ethical emphasis on equality, justice, mercy, and the practical happiness of other people.

Source details

The Age of Reason, Part I, Chapter I, “The Author’s Profession of Faith”; Moncure Daniel Conway collected/edited text represented by Project Gutenberg #3743 and cross-checked against Wikisource. The retained catalog wording says “I believe in the equality of man,” while the Conway/Gutenberg and Wikisource witness reads “I believe the equality of man.” This collection keeps its frozen legacy wording and discloses the edition-level variant rather than silently rewriting it. The passage is Paine’s deist profession of faith joining equality, justice, mercy and the happiness of fellow-creatures.

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The a priori presumption is in favour of freedom and impartiality.
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“The a priori presumption is in favour of freedom and impartiality.”

John Stuart Mill · The Subjection of Women · 1869
Meaning & context

Mill places the burden of proof on restrictions and unequal privilege rather than treating inherited inequality as self-justifying.

Source details

The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter I, printed page 3, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill places the burden of proof on restrictions and unequal privilege, stating that the a priori presumption is in favour of freedom and impartiality.

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Justice, on the contrary, is the main pillar that upholds the whole edifice.
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“Justice, on the contrary, is the main pillar that upholds the whole edifice.”

Adam Smith · The Theory of Moral Sentiments · 1759
Meaning & context

The social metaphor makes justice structurally essential: Smith argues that a community may survive limited generosity but not continual mutual injury.

Source details

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part II, Section II, Chapter III; the sentence contrasts justice as society’s foundation with beneficence as its ornament.

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Mere justice is, upon most occasions, but a negative virtue, and only hinders us from hurting our neighbour.
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“Mere justice is, upon most occasions, but a negative virtue, and only hinders us from hurting our neighbour.”

Adam Smith · The Theory of Moral Sentiments · 1759
Meaning & context

Smith distinguishes the minimum restraint required by justice from positive generosity: justice first prevents injury, even when it does not itself supply active beneficence.

Source details

The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part II, Section II, discussion comparing justice with beneficence and the obligations that society may enforce.

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The equality of married persons before the law, is not only the sole mode in which that particular relation can be made consistent with justice to both sides.
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“The equality of married persons before the law, is not only the sole mode in which that particular relation can be made consistent with justice to both sides.”

John Stuart Mill · The Subjection of Women · 1869
Meaning & context

Mill applies equal legal standing to marriage, arguing that a just relationship cannot rest on one adult possessing a superior legal status over the other.

Source details

The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter II, printed page 78, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill argues that equality of married persons before the law is required for justice to both sides and for marriage to become a school of moral cultivation rather than legal subordination.

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