The idea that human beings have
no rights till they are twenty-one, is monstrous. What mighty change is
it that takes place at the moment a person reaches the age of
twenty-one, that he should be a slave a moment before, and a free man a
moment after? No change at all takes place. The rights of a human being
are the gift of Nature, and not the gift of the law. Who authorized men
to make laws for one another? In making men different from each other,
Nature has made it impossible for one man to legislate wisely for
another. The majority have a right to rule themselves, but they have no
fight to rule the minority. All rights are the rights of individuals,
and the rights of individuals composing a minority, are the same as the
rights of individuals composing a majority. A man may elect a
representative; but he cannot be bound by a representative elected by
others. Children should be educated, not by force or authority, but by
attraction. The assumption of authority over a child by a parent is
usurpation; the use of authority over a child is tyranny. The
individuality of a child is its life, and life is sacred. To destroy
individuality is murder. We have no right to take Nature's place, and
make a human being something different from what she has formed him.
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