--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All men have an equal right to the free…" description: "\"All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties ; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of that sovereign justice..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/victor-cousin-29751_amount_all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free_487010.jpg" --- # All men have an equal right to the free development of… ![“All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties ; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of that sovereign justice which is called the State ; but it is not true, it is against all tho laws of reason and equity, it is against the eternal nature of things, that…” quote by Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/victor-cousin-29751_amount_all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free_487010.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/victor-cousin-29751_amount_all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free_487010.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb1/victor-cousin-29751_amount_all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free_487010.jpg) > “All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties ; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of that sovereign justice which is called the State ; but it is not true, it is against all tho laws of reason and equity, it is against the eternal nature of things, that the indolent man and the laborious man, the spendthrift and the economist, the imprudent and the wise, should obtain and enjoy an equal amount of goods.” [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote argues that while everyone should have equal rights to develop their abilities and receive fair legal protection, equality of material wealth is unreasonable because people differ in effort, prudence, and ability. **In simple terms:** Equal rights to development are fine, but equal wealth is unrealistic. Key Takeaway Recognize differing capacities when discussing economic fairness. Themes eity Justice Economic fairness Human nature Philosophy Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - Policy debates - Tax reform - Welfare design - Education access Key Concepts Meritocracy Resource distribution Social contract Questions to Reflect On - How should societies balance equal opportunity with unequal outcomes? - What role does personal effort play in economic justice? A Different Perspective Equality of outcome may ignore individual responsibility and incentives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Economist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economist/) [Equality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equality/) [Equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equity/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Protection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protection/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Spendthrift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spendthrift/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free-development-of-their-3/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free-development-of-their/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [It is admitted that all men have an equal right to the enjoyment of their life, property and personal security; and it is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/it-is-admitted-that-all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-enjoyment-of/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [“Privilege implies exclusion from privilege, just as advantage implies disadvantage," Celine went on. "In the same mathematically reciprocal way, profit implies loss. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/privilege-implies-exclusion-from-privilege-just-as-advantage-implies/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [This nation can no longer tolerate the autonomous conduct of any single service. A waste of the resources of America in spendthrift defense is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-a-johnson/this-nation-can-no-longer-tolerate-the-autonomous-conduct-of-any/) Louis A. Johnson > [If surface water can be compared with interest income, and non-renewable groundwater with capital, then much of the West was living mainly on interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-reisner/if-surface-water-can-be-compared-with-interest-income-and-non/) [Marc Reisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-reisner/) > [The life that is demanding to be born is limitless. Nature is a spendthrift. Look at the fish and their millions of eggs. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/the-life-that-is-demanding-to-be-born-is-limitless-nature-is-a/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/it-is-better-to-lose-health-like-a-spendthrift-than-to-waste-it-like/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [My parents never had any money. It was cash flow. It flows, and you got your fingers in it for a little while, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-aykroyd/my-parents-never-had-any-money-it-was-cash-flow-it-flows-and-you-got/) [Dan Aykroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-aykroyd/) > [If the Nation is living within its income, its credit is good. If, in some crises, it lives beyond its income for a year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/if-the-nation-is-living-within-its-income-its-credit-is-good-if-in/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [We are such spendthrifts with our lives, the trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-newman/we-are-such-spendthrifts-with-our-lives-the-trick-of-living-is-to/) [Paul Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-newman/) > [Ah! the spendthrift, love: it gives all and everything with the first sigh!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-felicite-comtesse-de-genlis/ah-the-spendthrift-love-it-gives-all-and-everything-with-the-first/) [Stephanie Felicite, comtesse de Genlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-felicite-comtesse-de-genlis/) > [Contrary to popular belief, prosperity is an emotional state that has little to do with your wealth or the state of the economy. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-j-zelinski/contrary-to-popular-belief-prosperity-is-an-emotional-state-that-has/) [Ernie J Zelinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-j-zelinski/) > [I am quite a spendthrift but just being careful because my family was not rich, was not a rich family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdullah-ahmad-badawi/i-am-quite-a-spendthrift-but-just-being-careful-because-my-family-was/) [Abdullah Ahmad Badawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdullah-ahmad-badawi/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More by Victor Cousin > [The universal and absolute law is that natural justice which cannot be written down, but which appeals to the hearts of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/the-universal-and-absolute-law-is-that-natural-justice-which-cannot/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [Written laws are formulas in which we endeavor to express as concisely as possible that which, under such or such determined circumstances, natural justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/written-laws-are-formulas-in-which-we-endeavor-to-express-as/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [In everything the ends well defined are the secret of durable success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/in-everything-the-ends-well-defined-are-the-secret-of-durable-success/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free-development-of-their/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [All men have an equal right to the free development of their faculties; they have an equal right to the impartial protection of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/all-men-have-an-equal-right-to-the-free-development-of-their-3/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [True philosophy invents nothing; it merely establishes and describes what is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/true-philosophy-invents-nothing-it-merely-establishes-and-describes/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [“If ignorance is bliss, there should be more happy people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/if-ignorance-is-bliss-there-should-be-more-happy-people/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [Ignorance is the primary source of all misery and vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/ignorance-is-the-primary-source-of-all-misery-and-vice/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [We need religion for religions's sake, morality for morality's sake and art for art's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/we-need-religion-for-religions-s-sake-morality-for-morality-s-sake/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [Moral beauty is the basis of all true beauty. This foundation is somewhat covered and veiled in nature. Art brings it out, and gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/moral-beauty-is-the-basis-of-all-true-beauty-this-foundation-is/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [Yes, gentlemen, give me the map of any country, its configuration, its climate, its waters, its winds, and the whole of its physical geography;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/yes-gentlemen-give-me-the-map-of-any-country-its-configuration-its/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [When we read with attention the poetical and philosophical monuments of the East--above all, those of India, which are beginning to spread in Europe--we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/when-we-read-with-attention-the-poetical-and-philosophical-monuments/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [Art neither belongs to religion, nor to ethics; but, like these, it brings us nearer to the Infinite, one of the forms of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/art-neither-belongs-to-religion-nor-to-ethics-but-like-these-it/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [The beautiful cannot be the way to what is useful, or to what is good, or to what is holy; it leads only to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/the-beautiful-cannot-be-the-way-to-what-is-useful-or-to-what-is-good/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) > [What is philosophy? It is something that lightens up, that makes bright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cousin/what-is-philosophy-it-is-something-that-lightens-up-that-makes-bright/) [Victor Cousin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) [Explore all 18 Victor Cousin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cousin/) ## More Amount quotes > [Dating someone on the opposite end of the happy spectrum teaches you an incredible amount of patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pine/dating-someone-on-the-opposite-end-of-the-happy-spectrum-teaches-you/) [Chris Pine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pine/) > [When the amount of change externally exceeds the amount of change internally, the end is in sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/when-the-amount-of-change-externally-exceeds-the-amount-of-change/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's a great story for us whenever an entrepreneur makes a crazy amount of money and we get to tell the world about it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-lacy/it-s-a-great-story-for-us-whenever-an-entrepreneur-makes-a-crazy/) [Sarah Lacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-lacy/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/the-amount-you-give-isn-t-important-what-matters-is-what-that-amount/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-bergin/there-s-a-place-in-botswana-where-there-are-100-000-elephants-living/) [Patrick Bergin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-bergin/) > [How could you justify giving Holland twice the amount of money that you gave Belgium? Well, finally, I put it up to them. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-averell-harriman/how-could-you-justify-giving-holland-twice-the-amount-of-money-that/) [W. Averell Harriman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-averell-harriman/) > [I am not a great believer in dialectical struggle. I am much more of a fusion person. 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