Nature has never read the Declaration of Independence. It continues to make us unequal.

Durant contrasts political ideals with biological and social realities. The Declaration of Independence asserts human equality in rights, but “nature” distributes talents, health, temperament, and circumstance unevenly. The line suggests that egalitarian law cannot erase innate and accidental differences; at best, society can mitigate their consequences through education, institutions, and moral effort. It also reflects Durant’s characteristic skepticism toward absolute political slogans: he treats “equality” as a normative aspiration rather than a descriptive fact. The sting of the aphorism is that appeals to nature are indifferent to human declarations—so justice must be a human construction, not something guaranteed by the natural order.