Voltairine de Cleyre Quotes
A right , in the abstract, is a fact ; it is not a thing to be given, established, or conferred; it is. Of the exercise of a right power may deprive me; of the right itself, never.
de Cleyre, Voltairine. "Those Who Marry Do Ill." Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre, edited by Alexander Berkman, Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1914.
In the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution there were time limits and constraints on getting consensus of which rights would be enumerated. The fact that all rights were not in these documents does not mean that they were not considered rights by many of the founders. One of the major political debates in American history has been whether other rights should be functional and legislated other than those that were mentioned in these founding documents. Many of these have found their way into State constitutions and legislation. But rights that were not specifically enumerated in the Constitution for example include the right of privacy, a right to education, a right to health care and many others.
This constitution, 13 years later, became the basis for the national Batavian Constitution.
Voltairine de Cleyre was an American anarchist known for being a prolific writer and speaker who opposed capitalism, marriage and the state as well as the domination of religion over sexuality and women's lives which she saw as all interconnected. She is often characterized as a major early feminist because of her views.
