Great Fairness Quotes for Kids

Fairness makes the world go around.  Being fair is one of the most important ingredients of being a good person It is also key to making the world a peaceful place. What does fairness mean to you?  Fairness is…

• Sharing and taking turns
• Playing fair and by the rules
• Being honest
• Compromising
• Caring and including others
• Not blaming others
• Admitting when you are wrong
• Making decisions in a fair way
• Keeping an open mind about different opinions

Overall, fairness is about making sure all are treated with the kindness and respect they deserve. When people are not treated fairly, they can become jealous and angry. Many wars have started because people felt like they were not being treated fair!

To help you learn more about fairness and how important it truly is, here are some great fairness quotes for kids:

• “Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “Do not go around saying that the world owes you a living; it owes you nothing; it was here first.” – Mark Twain
• “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.” – John Stuart Mill
• “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” – U.S. Declaration of Independence
• “The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good–and how he treats people who can’t fight back.” – Abigail Van Buren
• “When you’ve…walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.” – Michelle Obama
• “Fair and softly goes far.” – Miguel de Cervantes
• “It is not fair to ask of someone else what you are not willing to do yourself.”  – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “Play fair.  Don’t hit people.  Say your sorry when you hurt somebody.”  – Robert Fulghum
• “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” – Albert Einstein
• “Equal is everyone getting the same thing. Fair is everyone getting what they need to be successful. We will always try to be fair, but it won’t always feel equal.” – U
• “Being good is easy, what is difficult is being just.” – Victor Hugo
• “Fair means everyone gets what they need. And the only way to get what you need is to make it happen yourself.” – Rick Riordan
• “Teach all men to fish, but first teach all men to be fair. Take less, give more. Give more of yourself, take less from the world. Nobody owes you anything, you owe the world everything.” – Suzy Kassem
• “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi
• “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.” – Abraham Lincoln
• “Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”  – H. Jackson Brown
• “Let us not seek the Republican answer nor the Democratic answer but the right answer.” – John F. Kennedy

Here is an inspiring video about fairness and sportsmanship:

This video shows that even monkeys know what fairness is all about!

Additional Resources:

• Here is a link to our inspirational stories and posts about fairness
• Here is a link to our other articles featuring quotes for kids

Topics for Discussion:

• Which of the fairness quotes above do you like the most?  Why?
• Have you ever treated anyone unfairly?  Explain.  How did it them feel?  How did you feel?
• How do you feel if you have not been treated fairly?
• Why do you think fairness is so important in the world?

Take Action:

• Visit the PBS Kids Go Fairness Fighters page to learn about people who stood up for what was right and how you can do the same!
• Visit the NIEHS Kids Page to learn about a special kind of fairness – environmental justice – and what you can do to help bring it about!

Teacher Features:

• Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for elementary school students.
• Here is a link to a Critical Reading Skills worksheet that you can use for middle school students.
• Here is a great article from Edutopia discussing the importance of treating kids fair vs. equal