No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason.

Aucun homme n'a recu de la nature le droit de commander aux autres. La liberté est un présent du ciel, et chaque individu de la meme espèce a le droit d'en jouir aussitòt qu'il jouit de la raison.

Original text (French)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Article on Political Authority, Vol. 1, (1751) as quoted in Selected Writings (1966) edited by Lester G. Crocker

Variants

No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Denis Diderot (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.