For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever, and though himself might deserve some decent degree of honors of his cotemporaries, yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them.
— from Common Sense by Thomas Paine

Besides, in any case, a people is always in a position to change its laws, however good; for, if it choose to do itself harm, who can have a right to stop it?
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

There is in fact no such object, and therefore Othello cannot have any relation to such an object.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

His cruelty imposed on a servile court the duties of applause or silence; but the clergy had a right to speak in the name of their invisible Master; and their holy legions were led by a prelate, whose character was above the temptations of hope or fear.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Now the kings sailed eastward along the coast, and brought up in a river called Helga, and remained there some time.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson

He who is suffering for Christ has a right to speak on behalf of Christ.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon A revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations by J. B. (Joseph Barber) Lightfoot

Mr. Darcy drew his chair a little towards her, and said, “ You cannot have a right to such very strong local attachment.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

All will agree that a man guilty of theft, robbery, or murder, has forfeited the right to concealment and private life; that the community have a right to subject such persons to the most complete exposure.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass

He would have added more, but his indignation choked him. ‘Ah!’ replied the stranger coolly, ‘Slammer—much obliged—polite attention—not ill now, Slammer—but when I am—knock you up.’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Glancing around quickly, they saw that Crane had already revived the stranger, and that DuQuesne was not in sight.
— from The Skylark of Space by E. E. (Edward Elmer) Smith

We certainly have a right to see to it that neither Dr. Cook nor Mr. Peary are treated as though they were the scum of the earth.
— from My Attainment of the Pole Being the Record of the Expedition That First Reached the Boreal Center, 1907-1909. With the Final Summary of the Polar Controversy by Frederick Albert Cook

Skilled capital has a right to skilled labor in return.
— from The Ghost in the White House Some suggestions as to how a hundred million people (who are supposed in a vague, helpless way to haunt the white house) can make themselves felt with a president, how they can back him up, express themselves to him, be expressed by him, and get what they want by Gerald Stanley Lee

The church has always regarded the stage as a rival, and all its utterances have been as malicious as untrue.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 08 (of 12) Dresden Edition—Interviews by Robert Green Ingersoll

Puns, in their very nature and constitution, have a relation to something else; or, if they have not, any other reason why will serve as well.
— from The Punster's Pocket-book or, the Art of Punning Enlarged by Bernard Blackmantle, illustrated with numerous original designs by Robert Cruikshank by C. M. (Charles Molloy) Westmacott

If the collector has any reason to suspect that there are goods on board of a vessel, not in the entry, he is to make a thorough examination of the vessel.
— from Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 3 (of 16) by United States. Congress

And though the angels have no substantial change, yet they have an accidental; for the actions of the angels this day are not the same individual actions which they performed yesterday: but in God there is no change; he always remains the same.
— from The Existence and Attributes of God, Volumes 1 and 2 by Stephen Charnock

Then he heard his wife calling him and realized that somehow she knew of his coming.
— from The Auction Block by Rex Beach

Thus, in mid-April 1938, the designs of the Nazi conspirators to conquer Czechoslovakia had already readied the stage of practical planning.
— from Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 3 by Various