“The end does not justify the means. No one’s rights can be secured by the violation of the rights of others.”
— Ayn Rand Primary source“It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume, is to do at any time what I think right.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“Pardoning the bad, is injuring the good.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“Everyone has the right to make his own decisions, but none has the right to force his decision on others.”
— Ayn Rand Disputed“The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice and the desire for personal independence—these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.”
— Albert Einstein Primary source“The jury system has come to stand for all we mean by English justice, because so long as a case has to be scrutinised by twelve honest men, defendant and plaintiff alike have a safeguard from arbitrary perversion of the law.”
— Winston Churchill Primary source“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”
— Henry David Thoreau Primary source“Without justice courage is weak.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary source“If the law is too mild, private vengeance comes in.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source“The questioners had that beautiful detachment and devotion to stern justice of men dealing in death without being in any danger of it.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary sourceLaw Religion Cause and Effect Death Detachment