How we cite our quotes: (Line Number)
Quote #1
Not every man nor every government can have what he wants in a document of this kind. There are of course particular provisions in the Declaration before us with which we are not fully satisfied. I have no doubt this is true of other delegations, and it would still be true if we continued our labors over many years. (2-4)
No matter how long they talked about it, no one was going to get everything they wanted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It just wasn't possible with so many different political ideologies at the table, and extending the process to another session wasn't going to change that.
Quote #2
We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This Universal Declaration of Human Rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere. (44-45)
You can find more information about the Magna Carta in the "Compare and Contrast" section of the guide, but it was the first document in history that guaranteed basic rights to a group of people. Those freedoms may have only applied to English barons, but it was still a (small) step in the right direction. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights had the potential to be equally as significant and to not adopt it would be a big mistake.
Quote #3
We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man by the French people in 1789, the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the United States, and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in other countries. (46)
In other words, Eleanor Roosevelt hopes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be as influential as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the Bill of Right—both of which are the very foundations of constitutional governments in France and the United States. They influenced many of the articles in the declaration, including the rights to life and liberty. Read more about the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the Bill of Rights in the "Compare and Contrast" section of the guide.
Quote #4
Man's desire for peace lies behind this Declaration. The realization that the flagrant violation of human rights by Nazi and Fascist countries sowed the seeds of the last world war has supplied the impetus for the work which brings us to the moment of achievement here today. (49-50)
The Holocaust exposed a serious weakness in the international community. There wasn't any rule or law that explicitly stated genocide was, you know, illegal—probably because it was something so many people felt didn't really need to be said. But we learned our lesson the hard way, and the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were two big efforts to correct that error and stop mass murder and human rights violations from ever happening again.
Quote #5
We have much to do to fully achieve and to assure the rights set forth in this Declaration. But having them put before us with the moral backing of 58 nations will be a great step forward. (55-56)
Nice try, but that is not all, folks.
In fact, the work has only just begun. History is complicated, especially the stuff that influenced the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a single (super important) document isn't going to fix all the problems. The fact that 58 nations were able to agree on so much in the complex field of human rights is worth celebrating, so long as everyone remembers there's still work left to be done.