Quote #0
You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
About This Quote
The earliest cited use appears in a 1996 Forbes article about wealthy Americans who renounced U.S. citizenship to reduce taxes. Moynihan, commenting on proposed legislative responses, warned that even unpopular people should still receive legal protections.
Interpretation
The idea is that civil liberties are tested most when the beneficiaries are disliked; if protections are weakened for unpopular targets, the same weakened standards can later be used against anyone.
Extended Quotation
“You have to be careful to protect the rights of people you despise,” says Moynihan.
Misattributions
- John Rhoades
- Ann Landers
Source
Robert Lenzer, “And don’t come back,” Forbes, November 18, 1996.
