“Each of us deserves the freedom to pursue our own version of happiness. No one deserves to be bullied.”

Source: Master of Love and Mercy: Cheng Yen, p. 3

Source: Between the Lines

Aristotle, 9.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 5: The Peripatetics

Variant: Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain it.
Source: Complete Works - Volume XII

Source: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Alvin Journeyman (1995), Chapter 3.

Source: White Teeth (2000)
Context: You hear girls in the toilets of clubs saying, 'Yeah, he fucked off and left me. He just couldn't deal with love. He was too fucked up to know how to love me.' Now how did that happen? What was it about this unlovable century that convinced us we were, despite everything, eminently lovable as a people, as a species? What made us think that anyone who fails to love us is damaged, lacking, malfunctioning in some way? And particularly if they replace us with a god, or a weeping madonna, or the face of Christ in a ciabatta roll—then we call them crazy. Deluded. Regressive. We are so convinced of the goodness of ourselves, and the goodness of our love, we cannot bear to believe that there might be something more worthy of love than us, more worthy of worship. Greeting cards routinely tell us everybody deserves love. No. Everybody deserves clean water. Not everybody deserves love all the time.

Going Hard (track 1)
Albums, The Beautiful Struggle (2004)