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Rene Cassin Quotes

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About Rene Cassin

René Cassin (1887-1968) was a prominent French jurist and humanitarian who played a crucial role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. Born on October 23, 1887, in Paris, Cassin grew up during a tumultuous era marked by political instability and social upheaval. The Dreyfus Affair, an antisemitic scandal that shook France at the turn of the century, left a profound impact on his life and shaped his commitment to justice and human rights. Cassin's legal career began in 1913 when he passed the bar examination. During World War I, he served as an officer in the French Army and was decorated for bravery. Post-war, Cassin returned to law and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a professor at the University of Paris. In 1936, Cassin joined the League Against Antisemitism, where he developed close ties with other prominent Jewish intellectuals. When World War II began in 1939, Cassin was forced into hiding due to his Jewish heritage. He continued his work clandestinely, helping Jews escape France and providing legal counsel to the resistance movement. After the war, Cassin served as a French delegate to the United Nations and played a pivotal role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Drawing on his experiences during the Dreyfus Affair and World War II, he championed the rights of persecuted minorities and ensured that the declaration contained strong protections against discrimination. In 1968, Cassin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to human rights. He passed away later that same year on October 17. Today, René Cassin is remembered as a champion of justice and human rights who dedicated his life to ensuring that every individual could live with dignity and respect.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"To forget the past is not only dangerous but impossible."

This quote by René Cassin underscores the importance of remembering history, as forgetting it poses a significant risk to society. By neglecting the lessons learned from our past experiences, we may inadvertently repeat mistakes, lose valuable knowledge, or fail to address ongoing social issues. Recalling and reflecting upon the past can help us grow, learn, and shape a more informed future.

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges."

This quote by Rene Cassin, a French jurist who helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, underscores the inherent flaw in laws that apply equally to all but fail to address the root causes of inequality. In essence, it criticizes a legal system that imposes equal penalties without ensuring equal opportunities for all citizens. The quote highlights the paradoxical situation where laws uphold 'equality' on paper, but the reality reveals an unequal society, such as one in which the wealthy can afford housing while the poor are forced to sleep under bridges due to lack of resources.

"Respect for the human person knows no frontiers."

Rene Cassin's statement, "Respect for the human person knows no frontiers," underscores the universal principle that all individuals possess inherent dignity and deserve respect regardless of their nationality, race, religion, or any other demographic attribute. It is a call to action for humanity to transcend political, cultural, and geographical boundaries in our pursuit of justice, human rights, and peace. By acknowledging this shared respect, we can foster understanding, cooperation, and unity among diverse peoples, ultimately working towards a more compassionate and equitable world.

"Law without morals is a menace to liberty."

This quote emphasizes that laws devoid of moral principles can pose a threat to freedom. In other words, if laws are enacted without considering ethical values, they may infringe upon individuals' rights and liberties unjustly. A legal system grounded in morality ensures fairness, justice, and protection of human rights.

"Universal justice is only possible on the basis of international solidarity."

Rene Cassin's quote emphasizes that universal justice, which is fairness and equality for all individuals regardless of nationality or location, can only be achieved through international cooperation and solidarity. In other words, no single nation can ensure justice for everyone; it requires collective effort, understanding, and empathy among nations to establish a just and equitable world order. This idea underscores the importance of multilateral diplomacy, human rights treaties, and international institutions that promote shared values, norms, and goals.

The implementation measures of both Covenants, but especially those of the Covenant concerning civil and political rights, were considerably weakened to the point where they assumed an optional character.

- Rene Cassin

Political, Implementation, Covenant

The Covenant of the League of Nations had envisaged sponsoring only the protection of certain categories of men: national minorities and populations of territories controlled by other countries.

- Rene Cassin

Other, Minorities, League, Covenant

The only compensation, gained through the influence of nongovernmental organizations, consisted in slightly broadening for private individuals the possibility of access and appeal to the agencies enforcing the Covenant concerned with civil and political rights.

- Rene Cassin

Through, Private, Slightly, Covenant

The other salient characteristic of the Declaration is its universality: it applies to all human beings without any discrimination whatever; it also applies to all territories, whatever their economic or political regime.

- Rene Cassin

Other, Universality, Regime, Territories

And as a child I was filled with passionate admiration for acts of civic courage I had seen performed by an elderly military doctor, who was a friend of my family.

- Rene Cassin

Passionate, Elderly, Filled, Civic

We were thus led to organize ourselves, as men who had fought the war together, in order to support those statesmen who had truly understood the lessons of that World War, thus attempting to prevent its recurrence.

- Rene Cassin

Attempting, Thus, Fought, Recurrence

In less than eighteen months, it prepared a first draft which it submitted to the General Assembly and which, at the end of one hundred sessions of elevated, often impassioned discussion, was adopted in the form of thirty articles on December 10, 1948.

- Rene Cassin

Prepared, General, Hundred, Elevated

As a privileged survivor of the First World War, I hope I may be allowed to interject here a deeply felt tribute to those who were not fortunate enough to succeed, but who shared the signal honor of trying to the last to salvage peace.

- Rene Cassin

Here, World War I, Shared, Signal

When France resolved, along with England, to lend assistance in the legitimate defense of Poland, the realization burst on us that a conflict of awesome proportions was inevitable.

- Rene Cassin

England, Inevitable, Poland, Burst

How is it that, once victory took form and the horrible spectacle of the extermination camps was revealed, we could have shamelessly broken the promises given to the peoples in those years of ordeal?

- Rene Cassin

Broken, Took, Given, Promises

The single outstanding exception was the broad yet precise mandate communicated by the General Assembly in 1946 to prepare as soon as possible the Charter of Human Rights which the San Francisco Conference had not had the time or the courage to draw up.

- Rene Cassin

Exception, Francisco, Precise

As a consequence of these hesitations and of the vague character of such innovations, the Commission on Human Rights itself had doubts from the beginning about its role and its functions in general.

- Rene Cassin

Vague, Doubts, Consequence, Commission

I shall confess at the outset that it was only shortly after the beginning of this century that I entered active life - with a somewhat precocious capacity for involvement.

- Rene Cassin

Beginning, Shall, Outset, Precocious

As corollaries to the right of every individual to life and to full participation in society, the Declaration incorporated in the list of human rights the right to work and a certain number of economic, social, and cultural rights.

- Rene Cassin

Participation, Individual, Human Rights

Similarly, the problem of the rights of the state in the disposition of inheritances left by individuals presents social aspects of the first importance.

- Rene Cassin

Social, Importance, Aspects, Similarly

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