Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about a famous phrase. For other uses, see The Pursuit of Happiness.

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ” is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence. These three aspects are listed among the “inalienable rights” of man.

[edit] Phrasing

The phrase is based on the writings of John Locke, who expressed a similar concept of “life, liberty, and estate (or property)”. Locke said that “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”[1]

Written by Thomas Jefferson, the words in the Declaration were a departure from the orthodoxy of Locke. Locke’s phrase was a list of property rights a government should guarantee its people; Jefferson’s list, on the other hand, covers a much broader spectrum of rights, possibly including the guarantees of the Bill of Rights such as free speech and a fair trial. The change was not explained during Jefferson’s life, so beyond this, one can only speculate about its meaning. This tripartite motto is comparable to “liberté, égalité, fraternité” (liberty, equality, fraternity) in France or “peace, order and good government” in Canada.[2]

The phrase can also be found in Chapter III, Article 13 of the 1947 Constitution of Japan.

The phrase can also be found in President Ho Chi-minh’s 1945 declaration of independence of the Republic of Vietnam.

An alternative phrase “life, liberty and property”, is found in the Declaration of Colonial Rights, a resolution of the First Continental Congress.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”