"Every man, when he comes to be sensible of his natural rights, and to feel his own importance, will consider himself as fully equal to any other person whatever"
About this Quote
Priestley isn’t praising ego here; he’s issuing a democratic dare. The line hinges on two verbs that sound almost gentle but carry explosive implications: to be sensible of and to feel. Rights aren’t just legal facts in this framing. They are something you wake up to, and once you do, your inner posture changes. Equality arrives not as a gift bestowed by institutions but as a self-recognition that makes deference harder to sell.
The subtext is class war fought with manners. Priestley, a writer formed by Edwardian hierarchy and then radicalized by the churn of two world wars, understood how inequality survives less through argument than through habit: the learned reflex to treat some voices as naturally weightier. By tying equality to “importance,” he’s reclaiming a word usually monopolized by elites. Importance isn’t a title; it’s a felt condition. And once a person grants it to themselves, the old social script - who speaks, who obeys, who apologizes for taking up space - starts to look like theater.
There’s also a deliberately sweeping universality in “any other person whatever.” It flattens the usual caveats: education, property, accent, pedigree. Priestley’s intent is not merely moral but practical: a society of people who “consider” themselves equal becomes harder to govern through intimidation and harder to pacify with symbolic respect. The sentence reads like a calm description of human nature; it’s really a quiet instruction manual for refusing your assigned place.
The subtext is class war fought with manners. Priestley, a writer formed by Edwardian hierarchy and then radicalized by the churn of two world wars, understood how inequality survives less through argument than through habit: the learned reflex to treat some voices as naturally weightier. By tying equality to “importance,” he’s reclaiming a word usually monopolized by elites. Importance isn’t a title; it’s a felt condition. And once a person grants it to themselves, the old social script - who speaks, who obeys, who apologizes for taking up space - starts to look like theater.
There’s also a deliberately sweeping universality in “any other person whatever.” It flattens the usual caveats: education, property, accent, pedigree. Priestley’s intent is not merely moral but practical: a society of people who “consider” themselves equal becomes harder to govern through intimidation and harder to pacify with symbolic respect. The sentence reads like a calm description of human nature; it’s really a quiet instruction manual for refusing your assigned place.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|
More Quotes by Priestley
Add to List
