Perhaps the most sublime document ever written, the Declaration of Independence of the United States does not have the force of law, but was an inspiration to the Americans of 1776, and has since been an inspiration to uncounted billions of people around the globe even today.
Below are links to the original document in English, and to other languages courtesy of Google Translate (and I give the French language pride of place here, because if it had not been for the people of France, there never would have been a United States of America to begin with):
The Declaration of Independence
La Déclaration d'Indépendance
إعلان الاستقلال
Декларацията за независимост
独立宣言
Deklarace nezávislosti
Uafhængighedserklæringen
De Verklaring van Onafhankelijkheid
Ang Pahayag ng Kalayaan
Die Declaration of Independence
Η Διακήρυξη της Ανεξαρτησίας
הכרזת העצמאות
आजादी की घोषणा
A Függetlenségi Nyilatkozat
Yfirlýsingu um Independence
Deklarasi Kemerdekaan
La Dichiarazione di Indipendenza
独立宣言
독립 선언서
Deklarasi Kemerdekaan
The Declaration of Independence (Norwegian)
اعلامیه استقلال
Deklaracja Niepodległości
A Declaração de Independência
Declaraţia de Independenţă
Декларация независимости
Декларација о независности
Deklarácia nezávislosti
La Declaración de Independencia
Självständighetsförklaringen
சுதந்திர பிரகடனம்
ประกาศอิสรภาพ
Bağımsızlık Bildirgesi
Декларація незалежності
آزادی کےاعلان
Tuyên ngôn Độc lập
Mae'r Datganiad Annibyniaeth
Why bother with all this? Why should I have taken the time and invested the (minimal) effort? Because I truly believe that ordinary people the world over have no wish to kill each other, that they wish only for a fighting chance to live decent lives, to raise their families in peace and safety, because governments the world over cater to the rich and powerful who care not a fig whether ordinary people live or die, and because, in the immortal words of the slain U.S. President John F. Kennedy, I believe that ". . . our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal."
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