--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [If you understood the natural rights of…" description: "\"[If you understood the natural rights of mankind,] [y]ou would be convinced that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/alexander-hamilton-619_civil-liberties_if-you-understood-the-natural-rights-of_545533.jpg" --- # \[If you understood the natural rights of mankind,\] \[y\]ou… ![“[If you understood the natural rights of mankind,] [y]ou would be convinced that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that, and cannot be wrested from any people without the most manifest violation of justice.” quote by Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/alexander-hamilton-619_civil-liberties_if-you-understood-the-natural-rights-of_545533.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/alexander-hamilton-619_civil-liberties_if-you-understood-the-natural-rights-of_545533.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/alexander-hamilton-619_civil-liberties_if-you-understood-the-natural-rights-of_545533.jpg) > “\[If you understood the natural rights of mankind,\] \[y\]ou would be convinced that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that, and cannot be wrested from any people without the most manifest violation of justice.” [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Natural liberty is a divine gift to all humanity; civil liberty rests on it and cannot be taken without grave injustice. **In simple terms:** Liberty comes from God; taking it is unjust. Key Takeaway Protect civil freedoms as sacred rights. Themes freedom justice human rights Mood serious reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - government policy - civil rights activism - legal reforms Key Concepts natural rights social contract Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities accompany divine liberty? - How to balance security and freedom? A Different Perspective Liberty can be limited by security concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil liberties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-liberties/) [Civil Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-liberty/) [Convinced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convinced/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Manifest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifest/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Natural Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-liberty-1426465/) [Natural rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural-rights/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Rights Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights-mankind-346781/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) [Violation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violation/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/civil-liberty-is-only-natural-liberty-modified-and-secured-by-the/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/civil-liberty-is-only-natural-liberty-modified-and-secured-by-the-2/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [What man loses by the social contract is his natural liberty and an unlimited right to everything he tries to get and succeeds in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baptiste-rousseau/what-man-loses-by-the-social-contract-is-his-natural-liberty-and-an/) [Jean-Baptiste Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baptiste-rousseau/) > [Upon this law, depend the natural rights of mankind, the supreme being gave existence to man, together with the means of preserving and beatifying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/upon-this-law-depend-the-natural-rights-of-mankind-the-supreme-being/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [“The rights of men, that is to say, the natural rights of mankind, are indeed sacred things; and if any public measure is proved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-rights-of-men-that-is-to-say-the-natural-rights-of-mankind-are/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“The laying of a Country desolate with Fire and Sword, declaring War against the natural rights of all Mankind, and extirpating the Defenders thereof…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-laying-of-a-country-desolate-with-fire-and-sword-declaring-war/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [“The rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-rights-hereby-asserted-are-of-the-natural-rights-of-mankind-and/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ The rights \[to religious freedom\] are of the natural rights of mankind, and ... if any act shall be ... passed to repeal \[an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-rights-to-religious-freedom-are-of-the-natural-rights-of-mankind/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances have, and will arise, which are not local,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-cause-of-america-is-in-a-great-measure-the-cause-of-all-mankind-2/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Such regulations may, no doubt, be considered as in some respect a violation of natural liberty. But those exertions of the natural liberty of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/such-regulations-may-no-doubt-be-considered-as-in-some-respect-a/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [Since the narrower or wider community of the peoples of the earth has developed so far that a violation of rights in one place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/since-the-narrower-or-wider-community-of-the-peoples-of-the-earth-has/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-sacred-rights-of-mankind-are-not-to-be-rummaged-for-among-old-2/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/the-sacred-rights-of-mankind-are-not-to-be-rummaged-for-among-old/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [The most important civil liberty... is to stay alive and to be free from violence and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-howard/the-most-important-civil-liberty-is-to-stay-alive-and-to-be-free-from/) [John Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-howard/) > [As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance and equality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/as-long-as-i-have-any-choice-in-the-matter-i-shall-live-only-in-a/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Alexander Hamilton > [“I am apprehensive, Sir, that in the warmth of my feelings, I may have uttered expressions, which were too vehement. 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