QUOTATIONS ABOUT THE DECLARATION

 “To lift men everywhere to a higher standard of life and to a greater enjoyment of freedom.”  (Charter of the United Nations)

 “....It is the Magna Carta of Mankind...”  (U Thant)

 “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the best document every produced by the United Nations.”  (Alexander Solzhenitsyn, as quoted in Gurewitsch, p. 7)

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights constitutes an authoritative interpretation of the Charter of the highest order, and has over the years become a part of customary international law.”  (Human Rights meeting in Montreal, Canada, March 1968 as quoted in Gurewitsch, p.28)

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has universality,---it applies to everyone and is relevant to everyone.  It has truly become the standard of achievement for all members of the human family. It is a ‘passport’ [which] sets out the rights...to which every citizen of the world is entitled.  It is valid throughout the globe.”  (Jan Martenson, UN Secretary General for Human Rights, spoken at the Convocation, 1987)

“Perhaps the most important effect of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is found not in its legal status,  not even in its precise language or the rights it lists or omits,  but in the symbol it provides for the thousands of people in villages and cities throughout the world who struggle to make human rights a reality in their own communities.  They can know from the work of those remarkable men and women more than 40 years ago that the best minds and noble spirits of the international community share in their struggle.”  (M. Glen Johnson in Anniversary book, p.80)

 “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a beacon in the history of humanity. ..Ideas of freedom slowly but surely make their way in men’s minds irrespective of the obstacles they may come up against.”  (Frederico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO as quoted in Anniversary, p. 

“Respect for human rights must be seen as a cornerstone of a peaceful world, and their deprivation as a source of long-term instability and strife.  Consequently, human rights have a security dimension as well as a values dimension...”  (UNA-USA, p. 13)

“Governments everywhere now have to answer for how they treat people within their borders.”  (UNA-USA, p. 3)

 “It [The Universal of Human Rights] is not a treaty;  it is not an international agreement.   It is not and does not purport to be a statement of law or of a legal obligation.   It is a declaration of basic principles of human rights and freedoms ...to serve as a common standard of achievement for all people of all nations. (ER  speech on the eve of the Assembly vote, 1948) 

 “Despite differences of opinion, there is a common belief that there is a moral inevitability to human rights.   This means, as Professor Henkin once said,  ‘Tyranny is abnormal and repression needs to hide,  to lie,  and to apologize.’  (Jerome Shestack,  Former Representative to the UN Human Rights Commission, Convocation, p.40)

“Human rights is the true revolution of the 20th century.”   (Archibald MacLeish as quoted by Shestack in Convocation, p. 40)

“The story of their [ the drafters of the Declaration] work brings us to several conclusions.   First, theirs was an effort unusually cooperative in the international context.    In spite of personal and cultural differences, they worked together, drafting and reworking each other’s drafts, tinkering with language to accommodate differing points of view,  examining their own cultures and concepts illuminated by other visions.   They were all the authors of the Declaration and they were all remarkable individuals.”  (M.  Glen Johnson in Anniversary, p.78)

“The eighteen members of the commission [on Human Rights] had to find the words in which to embed the ideals set out in broad terms in the United Nations Charter and to do it in such a way that they could be understandable to all nations, in all tongues, in all cultures.  Not only that, but that they could lead to covenants and measures of implementation meant to protect the men and women of coming decades against oppression and repression...”  (Stephanie Hassell, Ambassador of France, Convocation 1987, p. 22)

"Promotion of respect for human rights advances America’s interest in a more peaceful world, one in which...the rule of law, rather than the law of jungle, defines relations between peoples...When those in power victimize the weak, they stoke fires of eventual explosion.”   (UNA-USA, p. )

 “Every president of the United States since the passage of the Declaration of Human Rights has included as a key part of American foreign policy a support of human rights.  (Elliott Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt With Love, p. 5)

“The goal of international policy is to insure universal fulfillment of the Declaration.”  (Andrei D. Sakharov in the Samizdat document of June 1968 as quoted in Gurewitsch, p. 28)

“Not only must these rights [as stated in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights] be constantly defended against violation, not only must they be consolidated so as to withstand the manifold dangers that threaten them,  they must also be constantly extended and strengthened so as to widen the horizons of freedom and individual creativity and to consolidate international understanding and solidarity... As the history of the world since that last War amply demonstrates,  wherever it is protected and nourished, the seed of human rights eventfully [sic] sprouts, in spite of contrary winds,  in whatever soil it has been planted.”   (Federico Mayor in Anniversary, p. l)

 “Since wars begin in the minds of men,  it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be built.”  (Archibald MacLeash as quoted in UNA-USA, p. 2)

“A great deal can be done to protect the inalienable rights of all peoples.  Inevitably,  most of the responsibility falls on the citizens of each country to claim and defend their own rights.   But both international law and common sense tell us that the international community of states---and of citizens---has a crucial role to play in setting standards, monitoring behavior and enforcing the most fundamental protections.  (UNA-USA, p. 3)

“Human rights are not an American crusade that can be achieved by United States pressures alone.  Human rights goals are best realized through concerted action among partners in all parts of the world.  (UNA-USA), p. 13)

“The United Nations is an indispensable framework for winning wider respect for human rights worldwide...”  (UNA-USA, p. 13)

“...we are all collectively exhilarated by the astonishing legislative achievements of the last forty years; the covenants and declarations and protocols, the remarkable body of international human rights law which has been proclaimed and propagated, establishing in a fashion which was never possible prior to the second world war that the rights of the individual and the way in which the state treats individuals are now legitimate subjects for international debate.  There are no exemptions,  there are no spurious claims to internal affairs allowed.  there is no escape from a scrupulous and ongoing examination of the way in which the state treats individuals and the rights which attend to individuals.”  (Stephen Lewis, Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN, Convocation, p. 27)

“Respect for others in conjunction with an objective, self-critical view of one’s own society is the real basis for developing and strengthening cooperation in the cause of an increasingly full exercise of human rights and freedoms.”  (Boris Tsepov, Representative of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Convocation, p. 36)

QUOTATIONS ABOUT ELEANOR ROOSEVELT AND HUMAN RIGHTS

“ [The Universal Declaration of Human Rights]...was in large measure the product of the energy and imagination of that extraordinary ‘First Lady of the World,’  Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.”  (Korey as quoted in Gurewitsch, p. 7)

“Determined prodding combined with tactful persuasion and boundless graciousness were the assets she [Eleanor Roosevelt] would use in the search for consensus on a Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”  (Dr. Korey in Gurewitsch, p. 7)

“I do not see how without her presence we could have accomplished what we actually did accomplish.”  (Dr. Malik in Gurewitsch, p. 27)

“[Eleanor Roosevelt] spoke out for all those who were not visible,  those who were silent...She was a caring person who would not tolerate injustice or tyranny.  And she was everywhere.  She understood both the mundane and the sublime. Were she here today among us, her voice would be heard speaking forcefully against apartheid, against torture in prisons,  against the abuse of children, and the neglect of the homeless.  Her voice [helps] focus on the central purpose of public life---to try to do good, to change the lives of men, women, and children for the better.  It was a moral imperative, a sense of justice which was the driving force that propelled her.   [Human rights]  was a theme that went to the core of her existence...She was the voice of direct courage, the voice which distinctly differentiates between good and evil, right and wrong.  Such clarity of moral purpose is vital to us today as we face the great questions of our time.”  (Madeleine Kunin, former Governor of Vermont, Convocation, pp. 11-12)

“It was Eleanor Roosevelt’s great gift to persuade others, whatever their creeds and backgrounds to subscribe to the words she felt right; gently, firmly, sometimes stubbornly, always courteously.  For this she was loved by all...That message that distinguished group of drafters has left us is one of trust in the ability of our species to overcome hatred, violence, and discrimination, a message of confidence in the values of democracy, a great message of hope.”  (Stephanie Hassell, Ambassador of France, Convocation, p. 22)

“Eleanor Roosevelt had three remarkable characteristics.   She had the courage to speak out and never be cowed into silence when a human rights violation was faced.   She had tenacity and the unrelenting pursuit of the improvement of the human condition.    She [urged] the indefatigability of the UN to keep probing an issue til it arrived at a solution.    She had vision---a view of the world where human beings are protected, nurtured, and treasured.”  (Stephen Lewis, Permanent Representative of Canada to the UN,  Convocation,  p. 33)

“All the authors of the Declaration ...were all remarkable individuals, but in many ways,  Mrs. Roosevelt was the most remarkable of them all.    Of her, perhaps, less was expected for she was not learned in philosophy or law, but she brought to her work two indispensable qualities which no one else could have brought and which were probably essential to the successful completion of the work on the Declaration:   an international stature in political and humanitarian circles which gave prominence to the work of the Commission and a skill and drive in managing both the Commission and her own Government without which the Declaration would almost certainly have been delayed if not scuttled altogether.”  (M. Glen Johnson, Anniversary, p.79)

“By her tactics, she had neutralized opponents of the Declaration and attained the greatest amount of support for it.”  (Dr. Korey in Gurewitsch, p. 27)

“What she [Eleanor Roosevelt]  wanted and repeatedly insisted upon was that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be a ‘ringing declaration’ that could be memorized easily and recited by school children all over the world.”

“I realize that today there are probably billions of people who weren’t even alive when Mother [Eleanor Roosevelt] died.    These people cannot possibly comprehend the immense impact that her efforts have had on the daily lives of all of us today.  The great surge of the human rights movement of the seventies, which started with so much promise in 1972 with the Helsinki Accords and was followed with the well-meaning Carter Administration's drive for human rights recognition on a global scale, was evidence of her direct influence.   Her devotion to the elimination of racial and religious discrimination became an integral part of the philosophy of many nations.  Her tireless efforts have helped bring about the realization that war solves no problems, that war is totally destructive, and that a state of preparedness for war undermines the economic well-being of all nations.”

“In various parts of the world today, there are hundreds of thousands of people demanding a nuclear freeze.    These hundreds of thousands are echoing her beliefs.  The struggles of the blacks in our country,  the struggles of the emerging nations---with largely black or other colored populations---were first championed by my mother.    It was her firm belief that equal educational opportunities should be provided for all,  everywhere, in every nation.    She believed that this was the only way to bring about an understanding of the necessity for peaceful coexistence.   She also believed that health was a primary consideration and, above all,  she was firmly dedicated to the premise that malnutrition and starvation could prevent peace in the world as surely as a nuclear bomb.”

  “As her descendants, you and I can take hope from her example that a way can be found to solve the problems that seem so insoluble to many of us today.”   (Elliott  Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt With Love, p. 6)

“The basic principles by which she [Eleanor Roosevelt] lived were: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’  ‘I am my brother’s keeper,’  and   ‘We are all the children of God, and we must all do his bidding.”          

 (Elliott Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt with Love,  p. 154)

QUOTATIONS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS BY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

“During my years at the U.N. it was my work on the Human rights Commission that I considered my most important task...”  (ER)

“Where after all, do human rights begin?   In small places, close to home---so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world.   Yet, they ‘are’ the world of individual persons:  the neighborhood he lives in;  the school or college he attends;  the factory, farm, or office where he works.   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.    Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home,  we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”  (ER in a speech before the UN, 1958)

“...long job finished.”   (ER on eve of final vote  of UDHR by Generaly Assembly)

“What I hope to leave behind me [would be to be able] to live in a community where every individual had an income adequate to provide his family with the ordinary comforts and pleasures of life, but no individual had an income so large that he did not have to think about his expenditures.   Such a community would have the germs of a really new deal for the race.”  (Lash quoting ER)

“As I look back at the work thus far of our Human rights Commission, I realize that its importance is twofold.   In the first place, we have put into words some inherent rights.    Beyond that, we have found that the conditions of our contemporary world require the enumeration of certain protections which the individual must have if he is to acquire a sense of security and dignity in his own person.  The effect of this is frankly educational.   Indeed, I like to think that the Declaration will help forward very largely the education of the peoples of the world.    It seems to me most important that the Declaration be accepted by all member nations, not because they will immediately live up to all of its provisions, but because they ought to support the standards toward which the nations must henceforward aim.    Since the objectives have been clearly stated, men of good will everywhere will strive to attain them with more energy and, I trust, with better hope of success.”

"As the Convention is adhered to by one country after another, it will actually bring into being rights which are tangible and can be invoked before the law of the ratifying countries.    Everywhere many people will feel more secure.   And as the Great Powers tie themselves down by their ratifications, the smaller nations which fear that the great may abuse their strength will acquire a sense of greater assurance.”

“The work of the Commission has been of outstanding value in setting before men’s eyes the ideals which they must strive to reach.   Men cannot live by bread alone.”    (ER, Behind, p. 558)

“It is a tragic commentary on the status of civilization in the middle of the twentieth century that the systematic and deliberate denials of human rights by some governments are so widespread in certain areas of the world that they are almost taken for granted.    The kind of callous brutality which would have shocked the conscience of mankind a century ago is now unfortunately a commonplace occurrence in those areas....All members of the United Nations have a responsibility,  individually and collectively, to see that the lights of freedom are not further extinguished throughout the world.....Every member has a responsibility to see that the rights of men are safeguarded, for no country is perfect in protecting the individual rights of its citizens.”  ( in What I Hope to Leave Behind, p. 585)

“If democracy---and the blessings of it both as a way of government and a way of life---are going to win this contest for the support of the peoples of the world,  we must have moral conviction and spiritual leadership.   That is the challenge to America today.    That is the challenge that we face in strengthening and making the United Nations work as a whole.    Those are the standards that we set ourselves and, in the interest of the future, those are the standards by which we must live.” (ER, Behind, p. 579)

HUMAN RIGHTS PROBLEMS AND SOME SOLUTIONS

“Forty years later, one could if one wished discern a dismal scene.   It’s both heartbreaking and enervating to attempt to deal with the range of human rights violations which blot the landscape.    There are grotesque violations of human rights on every front....Amnesty International issued a report on the human rights violations of many...countries...which was profoundly unsettling.   But that is a reality of this modern world.   We have a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we have magnificent covenants,  we have some sixty instruments,  we have a variety of implementation mechanisms,  some of them fully developed,  some of them still fragile;  but it is to weep to see the desecration and degradation of the human person and the human spirit that still predominates.    It need not, however, provoke despair...if one remembers three of the most powerful characteristics of Eleanor Roosevelt.    Number one was courage:  to speak out, unequivocally, never intimidated, never cowed into silence when a human rights violation was faced.   Number two was tenacity:  the unrelenting pursuit of the improvement of the human condition.    That’s what I loved about the United Nations---its indefatigability;  the determination to return time and time again to an issue, giving protagonists neither peace nor pause as one attempts to seek a solution.   That, after all, is how the Declaration came about.    It was immediately after the vote on December 10, 1948 at 3 o’clock in the morning that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote those words  ‘the long job finished.’   And the long job finished was precisely a manifestation of the extraordinary tenacity which characterized what she did and what the human rights community must embrace anew.    and the third characteristic is the simple one of vision;  a view of the world where human beings are protected, nurtured and treasured.   (Stephen Lewis in Convocation, p. 33.)

“It should be clear today, forty years after the Declaration was adopted, that the human rights situation is still anything but perfect.    It is to be regretted that the provisions of the Declaration are not being implemented in their entirety in any one country, or in the world as a whole.    The gross violations of human rights committed on a mass scale,  hunger,  poverty,  social injustice,  illiteracy,   and disease  continue to be today’s sad realities.    The human rights of individuals and entire nations are still violated....”

"The reason for this is the lack of genuine and constructive international cooperation in this field.    Conflicting human rights concepts and approaches discouraged a productive search for generally acceptable solutions to pressing humanitarian problems, including human rights problems., for they mirrored the political interests of various states and often evolved into overt confrontation...For too long a time, states evaded productive international dialogue on these problems, consciously or unconsciously limited their capability for such a dialogue with selfish ideas about their specific national interests or about characteristic features of their historical and political evolution...."

“Such a road could not and cannot lead to positive results, especially in our modern, interdependent world.   New thinking, free from past clichés and stereotypes which have proved to be unfit, is needed today in all fields of international affairs including the humanitarian field.   We in the Soviet Union, hopefully, as well as Americans in the United States, see our own problems in the field of human rights quite well. ...We do not limit ourselves to acknowledging our own mistakes  and miscalculations.  We try to overcome them.   This is testified to by our current policy of democratization in all spheres of life in Soviet society...[such as] ‘perestroika’ and ‘glasnost.’...New thinking and new approaches are also vitally important for international efforts in the field of human rights.   ...Our country and the US can and should make a tangible contribution to the development of international cooperation in this field.   ...There are opportunities for us to combine constructively our efforts ...in the United Nations.    The Moscow Conference on humanitarian issues, could become a substantial step in this direction.   The soviet side proceeds from the assumption that every state has possibilities for  raising the level of human rights and freedoms and that everyone should begin with oneself.    Respect for others in conjunction with an objective, a self-critical view of one’s own society is the real basis for developing and strengthening cooperation in the cause of an increasingly full exercise of human rights and freedoms.”  (Boris Tsepov in Convocation, pp.35-36.)