Every man, as long as he does not violate the laws of justice, is left perfectly free to pursue his own interest his own way, and to bring both his industry and capital into competition with those of any man or order of men.
Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.
- Topic: Justice, Society
- Photo: Jeffrey Benjamin
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Perfect wisdom has four parts; Wisdom, the principle of doing things right. Justice, the principle of doing things equally in public and private. Fortitude, the principle of not fleeing danger, but meeting it. Temperance, the principle of subduing desires and living moderately.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
If everyone were clothed with integrity, if every heart were just, frank, kindly, the other virtues would be well-nigh unless, since their chief purpose is to make us bear with patience the injustice of our fellows.
Every kind of peaceful cooperation among men is primarily based on mutual trust and only secondarily on institutions such as courts of justice and police.
Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.
The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither person nor property will be safe.
My experience has shown me that we win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.
There is but one thing of real value—to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men.
Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
If the machine of government is of such a nature that requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.
When civil fury first grew high, and men fell out they knew not why.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.
Amid the seeming confusion of our mysterious world, individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system, and systems to one another and to a whole, that, by stepping aside for a moment, a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place forever.
Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.
Every civilization is, among other things, an arrangement for domesticating the passions and setting them to do useful work.
Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really man it.
We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
