2022 International Human Rights Day: Inspirational and Motivational Quotes

December 10th is Human Rights Day, a day commemorating the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the importance of securing human rights for all people.

1. "I recognise no rights but human rights - I know nothing of men's rights and women's rights." [Angelina Grimke].

2. To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity." [Nelson Mandela].

3. "We will not enjoy security without development, we will not enjoy development without security, and we will not enjoy either without respect for human rights." [General Kofi Annan].

4. "A right delayed is a right denied." [Martin Luther King Jr.].

5. Activism works. So, what I'm telling you to do now is to act. Because no one is too small to make a difference." [Greta Thunberg].

6. "It is my aspiration that health finally will be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." [General Kofi Annan].

7. "It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. Never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant." [Desmond Tutu, South African civil rights activist].

8. "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." – Elie Wiesel

9. "There can be no peace without development, no development without peace, and no lasting peace or sustainable development without respect for human rights and the rule of law." – Former UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson

10. "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. … 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." – Eleanor Roosevelt

11. "We declare that human rights are for all of us, all the time: whoever we are and wherever we are from; no matter our class, our opinions, our sexual orientation." – Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

12. "When you deprive people of their right to live in dignity, to hope for a better future, to have control over their lives, when you deprive them of that choice, then you expect them to fight for these rights." – Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan

13. "When the fundamental principles of human rights are not protected, the center of our institution no longer holds. It is they that promote development that is sustainable; peace that is secure; and lives of dignity." – Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein