quotations about equality
Equality lies only in human moral dignity.... Let there be brothers first, then there will be brotherhood, and only then will there be a fair sharing of goods among brothers.
FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
The Brothers Karamazov
Only the man who is below the average in economic ability desires equality; those who are conscious of superior ability desire freedom; and in the end superior ability has its way. Utopias of equality are biologically doomed, and the best that the amiable philosopher can hope for is an approximate equality of legal justice and educational opportunity.
WILL DURANT
The Lessons of History
Equality is a perpetual threat to the status quo.
ROBERT TSAI
Practical Equality: Forging Justice in a Divided Nation
We live in a system that espouses merit, equality, and a level playing field, but exalts those with wealth, power, and celebrity, however gained.
DERRICK A. BELL
Ethical Ambition
The equalization of fortunes may have some slight tendency to stifle animosity and to prevent dissension. But its effect is always inconsiderable, and often doubtful; since those who think themselves entitled to superiority will not patiently brook equality.
ARISTOTLE
Politics
A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.
MILTON FRIEDMAN
Free to Choose
Equality before the law is probably forever unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges.
H. L. MENCKEN
"H. L. Mencken: His Last Gibes and Brickbats", Life Magazine, Feb. 20, 1956
Just as modern mass production requires the standardization of commodities, so the social process requires standardization of man, and this standardization is called equality.
ERICH FROMM
The Art of Loving