Which opening phrase begins the Declaration of Independence’s famous statement about equal creation?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident” begins the Declaration of Independence’s famous statement about equal creation.

The phrase introduces a sentence asserting that all people are created equal and possess unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is among the best-known lines in American political writing and has been repeatedly invoked in later debates about citizenship, equality, and civil rights.

The wording is often shortened in memory to “all men are created equal,” but that is the next part of the sentence, not its opening. Another frequently quoted passage, “When in the Course of human events,” begins the document itself, while “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” appears later in the same philosophical section.

Jefferson drafted the language, and Congress revised portions of the document before adoption. Its continuing importance comes from the principles it stated, even though the society of 1776 did not apply those principles equally to everyone.