The forgotten man... He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief business in life is to pay.
William Graham SumnerRead
Before the tribunal of nature, a man has no more right to life than a rattlesnake; he has no more right to liberty than any wild beast; his right to the pursuit of happiness is nothing but a license to maintain the struggle for existence, if he can find within himself the powers with which to do it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the notion of inherent human rights by comparing humans to animals in nature.
William Graham Sumner emphasizes the idea that, in the grand scheme of nature, humans do not possess intrinsic rights that elevate them above other creatures. Instead, rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are contingent upon one's abilities and struggles for survival, akin to the natural instincts and challenges faced by wild animals.
Themes
NatureRightsSurvivalExistencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on human rights, this quote can be used to challenge the assumption of inherent human superiority over nature.
More from William Graham Sumner
All quotes βIt is the tendency of the social burdens to crush out the middle class, and to force society into an organization of only two classes, one at each social extreme.
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The Forgotten Man is delving away in patient industry, supporting his family, paying his taxes, casting his vote, supporting the church and the school, reading his newspaper, and cheering for the politician of his admiration, but he is the only one for whom there is no provision in the great scramble and the big divide. Such is the Forgotten Man. He works, he votes, generally he prays β but he always pays β yes, above all, he pays.
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The men who start out with the notion that the world owes them a living generally find that the world pays its 'debt' in the penitentiary or the poor house.
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We throw all our attention on the utterly idle question whether A has done as well as B, when the only question is whether A has done as well as he could.
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