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Law71 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690A government of laws, and not of men. — John Adams · 1775The law sees and treats women the way men see and treat women. — Catharine MacKinnon · 1983The law is a sort of hocus-pocus science. — Charles Macklin · 1759I fought the law, and the law won. — The Crickets · 1961The law may... Depend on what the judge has had for breakfast. — Robert Maynard Hutchins · 1933All 71 quotes →Legal theory24 quotes
The law must be stable, and yet it cannot stand still. — Roscoe Pound · 1921Ignorance of the law excuses no man; not that all men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man will plead, and no man can tell how to confute him. — John Selden · 1689Laws are silent in time of war. — Cicero · 52 BCIt is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV. It is still more revolting if the grounds upon which it was laid down have vanished long since, and the rule simply persists from blind imitation of the past. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. · 1897Whoever hath an absolute authority to interpret any written, or spoken laws; it is He, who is truly the Law-giver to all intents and purposes, and not the Person who first wrote, or spoke them. — Benjamin Hoadly · 1717Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. — Aristotle · 350 BCAll 24 quotes →Rule of law11 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690A government of laws, and not of men. — John Adams · 1775Laws are silent in time of war. — Cicero · 52 BCNo freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. — Magna Carta · 1215The majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. — Anatole France · 1894The people must fight in defense of the law as they would for their city wall. — HeraclitusAll 11 quotes →Nature of law9 quotes
The law may... Depend on what the judge has had for breakfast. — Robert Maynard Hutchins · 1933The truth is, that the law is always approaching, and never reaching, consistency. It is forever adopting new principles from life at one end, and it always retains old ones from history at the other, which have not yet been absorbed or sloughed off. It will become entirely consistent only when it ceases to grow. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. · 1880Written laws are like spiders' webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful. — AnacharsisThe law embodies the story of a nation's development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. · 1880The law is not a "light" for you or any man to see by; the law is not an instrument of any kind. The law is a causeway upon which, so long as he keeps to it, a citizen may walk safely. — Robert Bolt · 1960Laws are generally found to be nets of such a texture, as the little creep through, the great break through, and the middle-sized are alone entangled in. — William Shenstone · 1764All 9 quotes →Custom and convention7 quotes
Let me make the superstitions of a nation and I care not who makes its laws or its songs either. — Mark Twain · 1897There are two sorts of laws, those of absolute equity and universality, and the bizarre ones which owe their autonomy only to blindness or to the force of circumstance. The latter merely cover the man who is breaking them with a passing disgrace, which time then transfers to the judges and the nations, on whom it remains forever. — Denis Diderot · 1805The law touches us but here and there, and now and then. Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in. — Edmund Burke · 1796There is a written and an unwritten law. The one by which we regulate our constitutions in our cities is the written law; that which arises from custom is the unwritten law. — Diogenes Laertius · 240Laws are sand, customs are rock. Laws can be evaded and punishment escaped, but an openly transgressed custom brings sure punishment. — Mark Twain · 1906How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law. — Edward Coke · 1628All 7 quotes →Criminal law5 quotes
Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750All presumptive evidence of felony should be admitted cautiously; for the law holds, that it is better that ten guilty persons escape, than that one innocent suffer. — William Blackstone · 1769Wherever a knave is not punished, an honest man is laughed at. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750Does capital punishment tend to the security of the people? By no means. It hardens the hearts of men, and makes the loss of life appear light to them; and it renders life insecure, inasmuch as the law holds out that property is of greater value than life. — Elizabeth Fry · 1848Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal. — Elizabeth Fry · 1848Political theory5 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690Laws are silent in time of war. — Cicero · 52 BCThe chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws. — Niccolo Machiavelli · 1532I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution. — Ulysses S. Grant · 1869Wherever a knave is not punished, an honest man is laughed at. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750Breaking the law3 quotes
Laws were made to be broken. — Christopher North · 1830For you'll ne'er mend your fortunes, nor help the just cause,
By breaking of windows, or breaking of laws. — Hannah More · 1817Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father and to tear the character of his own and his children's liberty. — Abraham Lincoln · 1838Justice3 quotes
There are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. — Martin Luther King, Jr. · 1963We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it up to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep one shape till custom make it
Their perch and not their terror. — William Shakespeare · 1616A long line of cases shows that it is not merely of some importance, but is of fundamental importance that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done. — Gordon Hewart · 1924Moral theory3 quotes
There are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. — Martin Luther King, Jr. · 1963Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind. — Edward Gibbon · 1776There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity, — the Law of Nature and of Nations. — Edmund Burke · 1794Natural law3 quotes
There are two sorts of laws, those of absolute equity and universality, and the bizarre ones which owe their autonomy only to blindness or to the force of circumstance. The latter merely cover the man who is breaking them with a passing disgrace, which time then transfers to the judges and the nations, on whom it remains forever. — Denis Diderot · 1805There is but one law for all, namely, that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity, — the Law of Nature and of Nations. — Edmund Burke · 1794We may brave human laws, but we cannot resist natural ones. — Jules Verne · 1870Politics3 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution. — Ulysses S. Grant · 1869Wherever a knave is not punished, an honest man is laughed at. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750Rich vs. poor3 quotes
Written laws are like spiders' webs; they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful. — AnacharsisLaws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law. — Oliver Goldsmith · 1764Anacharsis laughed at Solon for imagining the dishonesty and covetousness of his countrymen could be restrained by written laws, which were like spiders' webs, and would catch, it is true, the weak and poor, but easily be broken by the mighty and rich. — Anacharsis · 119Theory of punishment3 quotes
Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750Does capital punishment tend to the security of the people? By no means. It hardens the hearts of men, and makes the loss of life appear light to them; and it renders life insecure, inasmuch as the law holds out that property is of greater value than life. — Elizabeth Fry · 1848Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal. — Elizabeth Fry · 1848Tyranny3 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny. — Edmund Burke · 1780Whatever government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be called what it may. — Daniel Webster · 1835Government2 quotes
The chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws. — Niccolo Machiavelli · 1532Whatever government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be called what it may. — Daniel Webster · 1835Law and culture2 quotes
Public opinion's always in advance of the law. — John Galsworthy · 1922No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by popular opinion. — Carrie Chapman Catt · 1900Reason2 quotes
Reason is the life of the law, nay the common law itself is nothing else but reason. — Edward Coke · 1628How long soever it hath continued, if it be against reason, it is of no force in law. — Edward Coke · 1628Capital punishment1 quote
Does capital punishment tend to the security of the people? By no means. It hardens the hearts of men, and makes the loss of life appear light to them; and it renders life insecure, inasmuch as the law holds out that property is of greater value than life. — Elizabeth Fry · 1848Causes of crime1 quote
Necessity knows no law. — Mark Twain · 1869Civil disobedience1 quote
There are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. — Martin Luther King, Jr. · 1963Civil rights1 quote
Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. — Martin Luther King, Jr. · 1962Common law1 quote
Reason is the life of the law, nay the common law itself is nothing else but reason. — Edward Coke · 1628Compromise1 quote
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. — Abraham Lincoln · 1850Constitutional law1 quote
The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic... The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. · 1919Corporations1 quote
They cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed, nor excommunicate, for they have no souls. — Edward Coke · 1658Corruption1 quote
Law is where you buy it in this town. — Raymond Chandler · 1940Crime1 quote
Necessity knows no law. — Mark Twain · 1869Desperation1 quote
Necessity knows no law. — Mark Twain · 1869