Here are some powerful quotes about human rights along with their authors:

“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” — Nelson Mandela

“A right delayed is a right denied.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“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

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” — John F. Kennedy

“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

“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

“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

“Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.” — 14th Dalai Lama

“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” — Malala Yousafzai

“The candle burns not for us, but for all those whom we failed to rescue from prison, who were shot on the way to prison, who were tortured, who were kidnapped, who ‘disappeared’. That’s what the candle is for.” — Peter Benenson