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Rule of law36 quotes
To no man will we sell, or deny, or delay, right or justice. — Magna Carta · 1215Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690A government of laws, and not of men. — John Adams · 1775But where says some is the king of America?...In America the law is king. — Thomas Paine · 1776The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. — John Marshall · 1803Our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. — Gerald Ford · 1974All 36 quotes →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 →Political theory6 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690Laws are silent in time of war. — Cicero · 52 BCTo correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself. — Thomas Paine · 1795Wherever a knave is not punished, an honest man is laughed at. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750But there is another element, more important than all, without which there can not be the slightest hope of a permanent peace. That element lies in the heart of humanity. Unless the desire for peace be cherished there, unless this fundamental and only natural source of brotherly love be cultivated to its highest degree, all artificial efforts will be in vain. Peace will come when there is realization that only under a reign of law, based on righteousness and supported by the religious conviction of the brotherhood of man, can there be any hope of a complete and satisfying life. — Calvin Coolidge · 1925Politics4 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859Wherever a knave is not punished, an honest man is laughed at. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. — John Paul Stevens · 2000American politics3 quotes
The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men. — John Marshall · 1803Our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. — Gerald Ford · 1974Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. — John Paul Stevens · 2000Constitutional law2 quotes
We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens. — Sandra Day O'Connor · 2004When urgent considerations of the public safety require compromise with the normal principles constraining law enforcement, the normal principles may have to bend. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. — Richard Posner · 1999Democracy2 quotes
For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few. — John Dryden · 1681Our constitution is named a democracy, because it is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But our laws secure equal justice for all in their private disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sectional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we care the same spirit into our daily relations with one another... Open and friendly in our private intercourse, in our public acts we keep strictly within the control of law. We acknowledge the restraint of authority, and to the laws, more especially to those which offer protection to the oppressed and those unwritten ordinances whose transgression brings admitted shame. — Pericles · 430 BCGovernment2 quotes
To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859Whatever government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be called what it may. — Daniel Webster · 1835Tyranny2 quotes
Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins. — John Locke · 1690Whatever government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let it be called what it may. — Daniel Webster · 18352000 Presidential election1 quote
Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law. — John Paul Stevens · 2000Anarchy1 quote
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. — Judges 17:6 · 1385 BCApplying the law1 quote
No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor. — Theodore Roosevelt · 1903Breaking the law1 quote
Let 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 · 1838Citizenship1 quote
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest duties of a good citizen: but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. — Thomas Jefferson · 1810Civic duty1 quote
A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest duties of a good citizen: but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. — Thomas Jefferson · 1810Criminal law1 quote
Wherever a knave is not punished, an honest man is laughed at. — George Savile, Lord Halifax · 1750Economic inequality1 quote
The 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 · 1894Freedom1 quote
The history of liberty has largely been the history of observance of procedural safeguards. — Felix Frankfurter · 1943Frontier justice1 quote
I know those law books mean a lot to you, but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems. — Tom Doniphon · 1962Jim Crow1 quote
Lynchings must not be tolerated in a great and civilized country like the United States; courts, not mobs, must execute the penalties of the law. — William McKinley · 1897Justice1 quote
To no man will we sell, or deny, or delay, right or justice. — Magna Carta · 1215Law and order1 quote
People gotta talk themselves into law and order before they do anything about it. Maybe because down deep they don't care. They just don't care. — Martin Howe · 1952Law enforcement1 quote
It's a dirty job, enforcing the law; but, it's what we're supposed to be doing, isn't it? — Mike Vargas · 1958Legal theory1 quote
Laws are silent in time of war. — Cicero · 52 BCLynching1 quote
Lynchings must not be tolerated in a great and civilized country like the United States; courts, not mobs, must execute the penalties of the law. — William McKinley · 1897Peace1 quote
But there is another element, more important than all, without which there can not be the slightest hope of a permanent peace. That element lies in the heart of humanity. Unless the desire for peace be cherished there, unless this fundamental and only natural source of brotherly love be cultivated to its highest degree, all artificial efforts will be in vain. Peace will come when there is realization that only under a reign of law, based on righteousness and supported by the religious conviction of the brotherhood of man, can there be any hope of a complete and satisfying life. — Calvin Coolidge · 1925Police1 quote
A policeman's job is only easy in a police state. That's the whole point, Captain. Who's the boss, the cop or the law? — Mike Vargas · 1958Purpose of government1 quote
To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization. — Abraham Lincoln · 1859Rule of law in wartime1 quote
We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens. — Sandra Day O'Connor · 2004Rules1 quote
Has the whole world gone crazy? Am I the only one around here who gives a shit about the rules? Mark it zero! — Walter Sobchak · 1998