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db10d6a Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. mercy justice J.R.R. Tolkien
802388a The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die. responsibility personal-responsibility justice George R.R. Martin
58ee22e "All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... to make life bearable." REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE. "Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little--" YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LIES. "So we can believe the big ones?" YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING. "They're not the same at all!" YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET--Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED. "Yes, but people have to believe that, or what's the --" MY POINT EXACTLY." lies truth mercy justice Terry Pratchett
d8f1889 I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for. harry-potter revenge murder azkaban wormtail sirius-black justice J.K. Rowling
a2135b0 My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? justice C.S. Lewis
644fbac As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course. sacrifice inspirational activism healing justice Martin Luther King Jr.
60de911 It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one. verdict reasonable-doubt mercy judgment innocence justice guilt Voltaire
53cae60 The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. inspirational mlk justice Theodore Parker
1d554f1 A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward. morality justice redemption George R.R. Martin
1d1b621 "...the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." "...a ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is." responsibility personal-responsibility song-of-ice-and-fire justice George R.R. Martin
b05dca6 War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice, -- is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their ever-renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be willing, when need is, to do battle for the one against the other. injustice war morality motivational inspirational patriotic foreign-policy selfish ethics justice tyranny will safety fight John Stuart Mill
bba4dd5 Criminals do not die by the hands of the law. They die by the hands of other men. death punishment justice crime George Bernard Shaw
f22e784 Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. human-rights righteousness america freedom inspirational stream peace justice water pride Martin Luther King Jr.
7c5ff31 " " J. Michael Haller, Criminal Defense Attorney, Los Angeles, 1962." responsibility risk fear clients criminal-law justice-system innocence justice guilt Michael Connelly
625b856 I am convinced that imprisonment is a way of pretending to solve the problem of crime. It does nothing for the victims of crime, but perpetuates the idea of retribution, thus maintaining the endless cycle of violence in our culture. It is a cruel and useless substitute for the elimination of those conditions--poverty, unemployment, homelessness, desperation, racism, greed--which are at the root of most punished crime. The crimes of the rich and powerful go mostly unpunished. It must surely be a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit that even a small number of those men and women in the hell of the prison system survive it and hold on to their humanity. racism poverty greed criminal-justice-system cycle-of-violence imprisonment retribution homelessness unemployment jail incarceration punishment justice prison desperation Howard Zinn
a54c439 Dislike in yourself what you dislike in others. inspirational justice Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S
c0364f8 Who judges the judge who judges wrong? justice Gail Carson Levine
e033a58 You can't be neutral on a moving train. history neutrality indifference passivity justice Howard Zinn
9182770 In case of dissension, never dare to judge till you've heard the other side. due-process impartiality dissent judgment justice fairness Euripides
32fdde9 "I wish you would thrash him. He deserves it." She looked back at him. "I will one day, sir. I'm getting tired of falling down." humor justice Tamora Pierce
034db93 I need a watchman to tell me this is what a man says but this is what he means, to draw a line down the middle and say here is this justice and there is that justice and make me understand the difference. morality justice Harper Lee
8ac10d1 I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice. slavery morality barack-obama obama-inaguration obama-speeches preacher martin-luther-king-jr unitarianism sermons atheism justice Theodore Parker
065cfa0 Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it threatened social stability, that it led to anarchy. The greatest danger, I argued, was civil obedience, the submission of individual conscience to governmental authority. Such obedience led to the horrors we saw in totalitarian states, and in liberal states it led to the public's acceptance of war whenever the so-called democratic government decided on it... In such a world, the rule of law maintains things as they are. Therefore, to begin the process of change, to stop a war, to establish justice, it may be necessary to break the law, to commit acts of civil disobedience, as Southern black did, as antiwar protesters did. dangers-of-obedience rule-of-law civil-disobedience justice oppression Howard Zinn
cb5bc26 Please!' That word didn't make sense to Nico. The Underworld had no mercy. It only had justice. 'You're already dead,' Nico said. 'You're a ghost with no tongue, no memory. You won't be sharing any secrets. underworld nico-di-angelo justice Rick Riordan
ead802b I believe that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. legal-system reasonable-doubt justice-system death-penalty justice Neil Gaiman
3393b26 If thou wouldst seek justice, thyself must be just. hood justice teaching Stephen R. Lawhead
d838c1f "Do you understand what I'm saying?" shouted Moist. "You can't just go around killing people!" "Why Not? You Do." The golem lowered his arm. "What?" snapped Moist. "I do not! Who told you that?" "I Worked It Out. You Have Killed Two Point Three Three Eight People," said the golem calmly. "I have never laid a finger on anyone in my life, Mr Pump. I may be-- all the things you know I am, but I am not a killer! I have never so much as drawn a sword!" "No, You Have Not. But You Have Stolen, Embezzled, Defrauded And Swindled Without Discrimination, Mr Lipvig. You Have Ruined Businesses And Destroyed Jobs. When Banks Fail, It Is Seldom Bankers Who Starve. Your Actions Have Taken Money From Those Who Had Little Enough To Begin With. In A Myriad Small Ways You Have Hastened The Deaths Of Many. You Do Not Know Them. You Did Not See Them Bleed. But You Snatched Bread From Their Mouths And Tore Clothes From Their Backs. For Sport, Mr Lipvig. For Sport. For The Joy Of The Game." death life philosophy wisdom cruelty sport justice Terry Pratchett
1db104c "Hebrew word for "charity" tzedakah, simply means "justice" and as this suggests, for Jews, giving to the poor is no optional extra but an essential part of living a just life." poor hebrew language justice Peter Singer
598b1f2 The study of law can be disappointing at times, a matter of applying narrow rules and arcane procedure to an uncooperative reality; a sort of glorified accounting that serves to regulate the affairs of those who have power--and that all too often seeks to explain, to those who do not, the ultimate wisdom and justness of their condition. But that's not all the law is. The law is also memory; the law also records a long-running conversation, a nation arguing with its conscience. law-school law society justice Barack Obama
916e3cc Truth! Freedom! Justice! And a hard-boiled egg! truth slogan justice revolution Terry Pratchett
63e66b4 How good life is when one does something good and just! kindness goodness justice Fyodor Dostoyevsky
ab759fb You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out. There was some nervous laughter, but Reg looked offended. 'In the circumstances, Sergeant, I think we should set our sights a little higher--' 'Well, yes, we could,' said Vimes, coming down the steps. He glanced at the sheets of papers in front of Reg. The man cared. He really did. And he was serious. He really was. 'But...well, Reg, tomorrow the sun will come up again, and I'm pretty sure that whatever happens we won't have found Freedom, and there won't be a whole lot of Justice, and I'm damn sure we won't have found Truth. But it's just possible that I might get a hard-boiled egg. freedom truth hard-boiled-egg justice revolution realism Terry Pratchett
b073c2d The Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel dined with me, and I asked them how they dared so roundly to assert, that God spoke to them; and whether they did not think at the time, that they would be misunderstood, & so be the cause of imposition. Isaiah answer'd, I saw no God, nor heard any, in a finite organical perception; but my senses discover'd the infinite in every thing, and as I was then persuaded, & remain confirm'd; that the voice of honest indignation is the voice of God, I cared not for consequences but wrote. writing inspiration pantheism sword-sentiments justice William Blake
ec35109 Here beyond men's judgments all covenants were brittle. freedom social-contract state-of-nature the-west frontier libertarianism solidarity mercy liberty individualism liberalism justice Cormac McCarthy
ceb65ab In these downbeat times, we need as much hope and courage as we do vision and analysis; we must accent the best of each other even as we point out the vicious effects of our racial divide and pernicious consequences of our maldistribution of wealth and power. We simply cannot enter the twenty-first century at each other's throats, even as we acknowledge the weighty forces of racism, patriarchy, economic inequality, homophobia, and ecological abuse on our necks. We are at a crucial crossroad in the history of this nation--and we either hang together by combating these forces that divide and degrade us or we hang separately. Do we have the intelligence, humor, imagination, courage, tolerance, love, respect, and will to meet the challenge? Time will tell. None of us alone can save the nation or world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so. courage future change hope inequalities race justice Cornel West
e7356f8 "Freedom, "that terrible word inscribed on the chariot of the storm," is the motivating principle of all revolutions. Without it, justice seems inconceivable to the rebel's mind. There comes a time, however, when justice demands the suspension of freedom. Then terror, on a grand or small scale, makes its appearance to consummate the revolution. Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being. But one day nostalgia takes up arms and assumes the responsibility of total guilt; in other words, adopts murder and violence." rebellion justice revolution guilt terror nostalgia Albert Camus
1834a42 People who don't expect justice don't have to suffer disappointment. justice expectations Isaac Asimov
10e7518 Be just before you are generous. ulysses generous ireland just james-joyce stephen justice James Joyce
7c41649 Do not complain of life's unfairness. It is never fair - at best it is impartial. life justice David Gemmell
0889f99 God is merciful to all, as he has been to you; he is first a father, then a judge. religion god judge justice the-count-of-monte-cristo father Alexandre Dumas
f7e209b There are only two ways that God's justice can be satisfied with respect to your sin. Either you satisfy it or Christ satisfies it. You can satisfy it by being banished from God's presence forever. Or you can accept the satisfaction that Jesus Christ has made. salvation justice R.C. Sproul
d0f8586 The Underworld had no mercy. It only had justice mercy underworld nico-di-angelo justice Rick Riordan
2730f9b The universe did not invent justice. Man did. Unfortunately, man must reside in the universe. universe humanism justice Roger Zelazny
5459a7f But by this time I was acutely conscious of the gap between law and justice. I knew that the letter of the law was not as important as who held the power in any real-life situation. injustice legal-system privilege law justice power Howard Zinn
0f7de3d If the system turns away from the abuses inflicted on the guilty, then who can be next but the innocents? injustice system innocence justice police Michael Connelly
fc4ec95 Jedi do not fight for peace. That's only a slogan, and is as misleading as slogans always are. Jedi fight for civilization, because only civilization creates peace. We fight for justice because justice is the fundamental bedrock of civilization: an unjust civilization is built upon sand. It does not long survive a storm. jedi peace justice Matthew Woodring Stover
3d610ce There was no justice, there was only life. And life she had. justice Marilyn French
6cfa328 Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice. law justice Henry David Thoreau
2524d31 "Let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising loving kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD." god loving-kindness righteous understand know justice Anonymous
798175d It was a cruel fate, Yet not so cruel as Mago's will be. I promise you that, by the old gods and the new, by the lamb god and the horse god and every god that lives. I swear by the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. Before I am done with them, Mago and Ko Jhaqo will plead for the mercy they showed Eroeh. revenge daenerys-targaryen justice George R.R. Martin
c4eb9e7 We want to be saved from our misery, but not from our sin. We want to sin without misery, just as the prodigal son wanted inheritance without the father. The foremost spiritual law of the physical universe is that this hope can never be realized. Sin always accompanies misery. There is no victimless crime, and all creation is subject to decay because of humanity's rebellion from God. gospel justice sin R.C. Sproul
05301a8 "Her free hand was clenched in a fist. I held still, waiting for her to say something, to tell me she should have never left me here, where her friends might look to me for help. Finally she looked at me. Her eyes were hard, but she'd let no tears fall. "This is where we blame those who are responsible, Cooper, she told me, her voice very soft. "The colemongers, and the bought Dogs at Tradesmen's kennel. We'll leave an offering for him with the Black God when all this is done, and we'll occupy ourselves with tearing these colemongers apart. all right? We put grief aside for now." grief bad-news response blame dread justice guilt Tamora Pierce
d97909d There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for me to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed or enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. injustice morality innocent law innocence justice guilt morals values Ayn Rand
c846367 As long as there is one person suffering an injustice; as long as one person is forced to bear an unnecessary sorrow; as long as one person is subject to an undeserved pain, the worship of a God is a demoralizing humiliation. As long as there is one mistake in the universe; as long as one wrong is permitted to exist; as long as there is hatred and antagonism among mankind, the existence of a God is a moral impossibility. said: 'Injustice upon earth renders the justice of of heaven impossible. mankind hatred universe injustice earth pain suffering wrong sorrow morality ingersoll robert-g-ingersoll robert-green-ingersoll robert-ingersoll impossibility mistake justice Joseph Lewis
495c900 There are times when we suffer innocently at other people's hands. When that occurs, we are victims of injustice. But that injustice happens on a horizontal plane. No one ever suffers injustice on the vertical plane. That is, no one ever suffers unjustly in terms of his or her relationship with God. As long as we bear the guilt of sin, we cannot protest that God is unjust in allowing us to suffer. suffering god gospel justice R.C. Sproul
a5c1d97 I was thinking, that when my time comes, I should be sorry if the only plea I had to offer was that of justice. Because it might mean that only justice would be meted out to me. mercy justice Agatha Christie
1f88670 'n ljrym@ lty tflt mn l`qb tkrs lthm byn lns wtz`z` lthq@ fy l`dl@ llhy@ wtmhd lrtkb lmzyd mn ljry'm justice Naguib Mahfouz
636ca96 There are thousands who are opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing.... war slavery citizenship beliefs justice Henry David Thoreau
2a58421 Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are... and therefore though Justice is itself good and desireth no further evil, it can but perpetuate the evil that was, and doth not prevent it from the bearing of fruit in sorrow. valar manwë silmarillion justice J.R.R. Tolkien
d42c62a Feminist thinking teaches us all, especially, how to love justice and freedom in ways that foster and affirm life. freedom feminist life justice Bell Hooks
e5f48e7 "He's bound to have done ," Nobby repeated. In this he was echoing the Patrician's view of crime and punishment. If there was crime, there should be punishment. If the specific criminal should be involved in the punishment process then this was a happy accident, but if not then any criminal would do, and since everyone was undoubtedly guilty of something, the net result was that, , justice was done." funny ethics punishment justice Terry Pratchett
9d4fb20 Perhaps the most important thing I learned was about democracy, that democracy is not our government, our constitution, our legal structure. Too often they are enemies of democracy. legal-system subversion law-school government justice democracy Howard Zinn
53eb764 Why do people resist [engines, bridges, and cities] so? They are symbols and products of the imagination, which is the force that ensures justice and historical momentum in an imperfect world, because without imagination we would not have the wherewithal to challenge certainty, and we could never rise above ourselves. mankind imagination cities justice Mark Helprin
cda5764 But how did you fight an enemy who never fought fair? Didn't you have to break the rules to win against the Devil? justice fairness Libba Bray
2b9c00d "I will go forth as a real outlaw," he said, "and as men do robbery on the highway I will do right on the highway; and it will be counted a wilder crime." inspirational justice G.K. Chesterton
3c288e0 Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. justice Henry David Thoreau
5711d83 "Well, did he do it?" She always asked the irrelevant question. It didn't matter in terms of the strategy of the case whether the defendant "did it" or not. What mattered was the evidence against him -- the proof -- and if and how it could be neutralized. My job was to bury the proof, to color the proof a shade of gray. Gray was the color of reasonable doubt." defense reasonable-doubt criminal-law justice-system evidence innocence justice guilt Michael Connelly
ea6ee2c Far more beguiling than the idea that evil can be destroyed by throwing a piece of expensive jewelry into a volcano is the possibility that evil can be defused by talking. The fantasy of justice is more interesting than the fantasy of fairies, and more truly fantastic. humanism fantasy the-one-ring talking justice Terry Pratchett
d3110e2 I've been in auditions without screens, and I can assure you that I was prejudiced. I began to listen with my eyes, and there is no way that your eyes don't affect your judgement. The only true way to listen is with your ears and your heart. (p.251) prejudice science music heart blink ears screens nonfiction hypocrisy judgement justice eyes Malcolm Gladwell
f06f865 "You know what my father said about innocent clients? ... He said the scariest client a lawyer will ever have is an innocent client. Because if you fuck up and he goes to prison, it'll scar you for life ... He said there is no in-between with an innocent client. No negotiation, no plea bargain, no middle ground. There's only one verdict. You have to put an NG up on the scoreboard. There's no other verdict but not guilty." Levin nodded thoughtfully. "The bottom line was my old man was a damn good lawyer and he didn't like having innocent clients," I said. "I'm not sure I do, either." -- responsibility risk fear criminal-law justice-system innocence justice guilt Michael Connelly
7f870e5 Being a copper I like to see the law win. I'd like to see the flashy well-dressed mugs like Eddie Mars spoiling their manicures in the rock quarry at Folsom, alongside of the poor little slum-bred guys that got knocked over on their first caper amd never had a break since. That's what I'd like. You and me both lived too long to think I'm likely to see it happen. Not in this town, not in any town half this size, in any part of this wide, green and beautiful U.S.A. We just don't run our country that way. money injustice corruption justice prison crime Raymond Chandler
1074f9a What is kinder--to believe the best of people and burden them with a nobility beyond their endurance--or to see them as they are, and accept it because it makes them comfortable? kindness justice Ayn Rand
8e3bfdb "When a man kills another man, the people say he is a murderer, but when the Emir kills him, the Emir is just. When a man robs a monastery, they say he is a thief, but when the Emir robs him of his life, the Emir is honourable. When a woman betrays her husband, they say she is an adulteress, but when the Emir makes her walk naked in the streets and stones her later, the Emir is noble. Shedding of blood is forbidden, but who made it lawful for the Emir? Stealing one's money is a crime, but taking away one's life is a noble act. Betrayal of a husband may be an ugly deed, but stoning of living souls is a beautiful sight. Shall we meet evil with evil and say this is the Law? Shall we fight corruption with greater corruption and say this is the Rule? Shall we conquer crimes with more crimes and say this is Justice? Had not the Emir killed an enemy in his past life? Had he not robbed his weak subjects of money and property? Had he not committed adultery? Was he infallible when he killed the murderer and hanged the thief in the tree? Who are those who hanged the thief in the tree? Are they angels descended from heaven, or men looting and usurping? Who cut off the murderer's head? Are they divine prophets, or soldiers shedding blood wherever they go? Who stoned that adulteress? Were they virtuous hermits who came from their monasteries, or humans who loved to commit atrocities with glee, under the protection of ignorant Law? What is Law? Who saw it coming with the sun from the depths of heaven? What human saw the heart of God and found its will or purpose? In what century did the angels walk among the people and preach to them, saying, "Forbid the weak from enjoying life, and kill the outlaws with the sharp edge of the sword, and step upon the sinners with iron feet?" crimes murderer stealing justice Kahlil Gibran
c4c566e "She looked at them with shining eyes. Her chin went up. She said: "You regard it as impossible that a sinner should be struck down by the wrath of God! I do not!" The judge stroked his chin. He murmured in a slightly ironic voice: "My dear lady, in my experience of ill-doing, Providence leaves the work of conviction and chastisement to us mortals-and the process is often fraught with difficulties. There are no short cuts." relegion punishment justice Agatha Christie
55ffe88 "Because things are not agreeable," said Jean Valjean, "that is no reason for being unjust towards God." jean-valjean justice Victor Hugo
ee20a56 They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man's goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning; and, since it is necessary that there should be a perpetual intercourse of buying and selling, and dealing upon credit, where fraud is permitted and connived at, or has no law to punish it, the honest dealer is always undone, and the knave gets the advantage. law punishment justice Jonathan Swift
1798373 "Do not shout at me, Mr. Quill," said John [Adams]. "Justice may be blind, but she is not deaf." deaf justice Orson Scott Card
739196e Are we truly obeying the command to love our neighbor as ourselves if we're storing up money for potential future needs when our neighbor is laboring today under actual present needs? current present future compassion love hoarding stewardship labor sharing selfish neighbor saving need justice Randy Alcorn
3d167c3 Hawaii once had a rat problem. Then, somebody hit upon a brilliant solution. import mongooses from India. Mongooses would kill the rats. It worked. Mongooses did kill the rats. Mongooses also killed chickens, young pigs, birds, cats, dogs, and small children. There have been reports of mongooses attacking motorbikes, power lawn mowers, golf carts, and James Michener. in Hawaii now, there are as many mongooses as there once were rats. Hawaii had traded its rat problem for a mongoose problem. Hawaii was determined nothing like that would ever happen again. How could Leigh-Cheri draw for Gulietta the appropriate analogy between Hawaii's rodents and society at large? Society had a crime problem. It hired cops to attack crime. Now society has a cop problem. injustice mongooses hawaii rodents justice crime Tom Robbins
8e5ccd7 When kings the sword of justice first lay down, They are no kings, though they possess the crown. Titles are shadows, crowns are empty things, The good of subjects is the end of kings. good monarchs subjects nothing emptiness titles kings purpose justice Daniel Defoe
4bdaf3d "You can see the same immorality or amorality in the Christian view of guilt and punishment. There are only two texts, both of them extreme and mutually contradictory. The Old Testament injunction is the one to exact an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth (it occurs in a passage of perfectly demented detail about the exact rules governing mutual ox-goring; you should look it up in its context (Exodus 21). The second is from the Gospels and says that only those without sin should cast the first stone. The first is a moral basis for capital punishment and other barbarities; the second is so relativistic and "nonjudgmental" that it would not allow the prosecution of Charles Manson. Our few notions of justice have had to evolve despite these absurd codes of ultra vindictiveness and ultracompassion." christianity morality compassion religion relavitism punishment immorality justice guilt Christopher Hitchens
d836f70 Well, listen a moment, Monsieur Mayor; I have often been severe in my life towards others. It was just. I did right. Now if I were not severe towards myself, all I have justly done would become injustice. Should I spare myself more than others? No. What! if I should be prompt only to punish others and not myself, I should be a wretched indeed! - Javert to M. Madeleine truth justice Victor Hugo
3cd1c73 The author and intellectual Cornel West has said that 'justice is what love looks like in public.' I often think that neoliberalism is what lovelessness looks like as policy. politics love lovelessness liberalism justice Naomi Klein
6b793cb The primitive idea of justice is partly legalized revenge and partly expiation by sacrifice. It works out from both sides in the notion that two blacks make a white, and that when a wrong has been done, it should be paid for by an equivalent suffering. It seems to the Philistine majority a matter of course that this compensating suffering should be inflicted on the wrongdoer for the sake of its deterrent effect on other would-be wrongdoers; but a moment's reflection will shew that this utilitarian application corrupts the whole transaction. For example, the shedding of blood cannot be balanced by the shedding of guilty blood. Sacrificing a criminal to propitiate God for the murder of one of his righteous servants is like sacrificing a mangy sheep or an ox with the rinderpest: it calls down divine wrath instead of appeasing it. In doing it we offer God as a sacrifice the gratification of our own revenge and the protection of our own lives without cost to ourselves; and cost to ourselves is the essence of sacrifice and expiation. death-penalty wrongdoing punishment justice George Bernard Shaw
aedfb27 I understand now that the only time black people don't feel guilty is when we've actually done something wrong, because that relieves us of the cognitive dissonance of being black and innocent, and in a way the prospect of going to jail becomes a relief. blacks jail justice-system race-relations incarceration innocence justice prison guilt Paul Beatty
aad128f It is a policeman's duty to retrieve stolen property and return it to its owners. But when robbery becomes the purpose of the law, and the policeman's duty becomes, not protection, but the plunder of property - then it is an outlaw who has to become a policeman. property law society justice Ayn Rand
7337ff0 "Besides," said Suriyawong. "This was not a rescue operation." "What was it, target practice? Chinese skeet?" "An offer of transportation to an invited guest of the Hegemon," said Suriyawong. "And the loan of a knife." Achilles held up the bloody thing, dangling it from the point. "Yours?" he asked. "Unless you want to clean it," said Suriyawong. Achillese handed it to him. Suriyawong took out his cleaning kit and wiped down the blade, then began to polish it. "You wanted me to die," said Achilles quietly. "I expected you to solve your own problems," said Suriyawong." comeuppance enderverse julian-delphinki osc pwn pwned shadow-saga suriyawong achilles-de-flandres bean own owned just-desserts payback justice betrayal Orson Scott Card
b0248aa Remaining for a moment with the question of legality and illegality: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1368, unanimously passed, explicitly recognized the right of the United States to self-defense and further called upon all member states 'to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of the terrorist attacks. It added that 'those responsible for aiding, supporting or harboring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of those acts will be held accountable.' In a speech the following month, the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan publicly acknowledged the right of self-defense as a legitimate basis for military action. The SEAL unit dispatched by President Obama to Abbottabad was large enough to allow for the contingency of bin-Laden's capture and detention. The naive statement that he was 'unarmed' when shot is only loosely compatible with the fact that he was housed in a military garrison town, had a loaded automatic weapon in the room with him, could well have been wearing a suicide vest, had stated repeatedly that he would never be taken alive, was the commander of one of the most violent organizations in history, and had declared himself at war with the United States. It perhaps says something that not even the most casuistic apologist for al-Qaeda has ever even attempted to justify any of its 'operations' in terms that could be covered by any known law, with the possible exception of some sanguinary verses of the Koran. war international-law kofi-annan right-to-self-defense united-nations-security-council united-states-navy-seals al-qaeda death-of-osama-bin-laden quran barack-obama osama-bin-laden september-11-attacks pakistan united-nations united-states law justice islamism assassination self-defense Christopher Hitchens
a7f14c0 There can be no love without justice. Until we live in a culture that no only respects but also upholds basic civil rights for children, most children will not know love. love justice children bell hooks
6504ab3 Is it justice to make evil, and then punish for it? punishment justice James Fenimore Cooper
4d5bdb4 If justice takes place, there may be hope, even in the face of a seemingly capricious divinity. hope justice Alberto Manguel
6a34e8f Customs tell a man who he is, where he belongs, what he must do. Better illogical customs than none; men cannot live together without them. From an anthropologist's view, 'justice' is a search for workable customs. society justice Robert A. Heinlein
1744c24 "What if the differences between social strata stem not from genomics or inherent xcellence or even dollars, but merely differences in knowledge? Would this not mean the whole Pyramid is built on shifting sands?" I speculated such a suggestion could be seen as a serious deviancy. Melphi seemed delited. "Try this for deviancy: fabricants are mirrors held up to purebloods' consciences; what purebloods see reflected there sickens them. So they blame you for holding up the mirror." I hid my shock by asking when purebloods might blame themselves. Melphi relplied, "History suggests, not until they are made to." hatred racism equality perception justice David Mitchell
62d6c0d "Sorrow and profound fatigue are at the heart of Dewey's silence. It had been his ambition to learn "exactly what happened in that house that night." Twice now he'd been told, and the two versions were very much alike, the only serious discrepancy being that Hickock attributed all four deaths to Smith, while Smith contended that Hickock had killed the two women. But the confessions, though they answered questions of how and why, failed to satisfy his sense of meaningful design. The crime was a psychological accident, virtually an impersonal act; the victims might as well have been killed by lightning. Except for one thing: they had experienced prolonged terror, they had suffered. And Dewey could not forget their sufferings. Nonetheless, he found it possible to look at the man beside him without anger - with, rather, a measure of sympathy - for Perry Smith's life had been no bed of roses but pitiful, an ugly and lonely progress toward one mirage and then another. Dewey's sympathy, however, was not deep enough to accommodate either forgiveness or mercy. He hoped to see Perry and his partner hanged - hanged back to back." sympathy mercy justice Truman Capote
11ddd72 If a theory of justice is to guide reasoned choice of policies, strategies or institutions, then the identification of fully just social arrangements is neither necessary nor sufficient. politics practical law justice Amartya Sen
b6c541c Court games aren't fair. They don't judge men by their worth, and they aren't about what's just. Guilty men can hold power their whole lives and be wept for when they pass. Innocent men can be spent like coins because it's convenient. You don't have to have sinned for them to ruin you. If your destruction is useful to them, you'll be destroyed. morality politics justice Daniel Abraham
a27fb28 ...if we are to become a land of homes and people, evil men must not be allowed to persist in their evil. justice nation Louis L'Amour
fd254b1 I wonder how much the general population of this country know that the legal system has far more to do with playing a good hand of poker than it does with justice. reality life legal-system justice-system justice reality-of-life Jodi Picoult
cd05162 "When we destroy it." She spoke clearly now, steadily now. "If it comes in a form with a dick, I will personally castrate it"." revenge justice Nora Roberts
4d1c7c2 Fat Charlie had had no real liking for the police, but until now, he had still managed to cling to a fundamental trust in the natural order of things, a conviction that there was some kind of power--a Victorian might have thought of it as Providence--that ensured that the guilty would be punished while the innocent would be set free. This faith had collapsed in the face of recent events and had been replaced by the suspicion that he would spend the rest of his life pleading his innocence to a variety of implacable judges and tormenters, many of whom would look like Daisy, and that he would in all probability wake up in cell six the next morning to find that he had been transformed into an enormous cockroach. He had definitely been transported to the kind of maleficent universe that transformed people into cockroaches. wrongfully-accused justice Neil Gaiman
2dd14e2 "Visit the Navy-Yard, and behold a marine, such a man as an American government can make, or such as it can make a man with its black arts, -a mere shadow and reminiscence of humanity, a man laid out alive and standing, and already, as one may say, buried under arms with funeral accompaniments, though it may be, - "Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corse to the rampart were hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot, O'er the grave where our hero we buried." humanity law soldier justice Henry David Thoreau
d36c918 "Lem glowered. "Your lion friends ride into some village, take all the food and every coin they find, and call it foraging. the wolves as well, so why not us? no one robbed you, dog. You just been good and foraged." justice George R.R. Martin
ba395ce "That's justice," she said, nodding at the statue. "She doesn't hear you. She doesn't see you. She can't feel you and won't speak to you. Justice, Detective Bosch, is just a concrete blonde." justice Michael Connelly
2e65220 "Child, [death] is with us always," said Cadfael, patient beside him. "Last summer ninety-five men died here in the town, none of whom had done murder. For choosing the wrong side, they died. It falls upon blameless women in war, even in peace at the hands of evil men. It falls upon children who never did harm to any, upon old men, who in their lives have done good to many, and yet are brutally and senselessly slain. Never let it shake your faith that there is a balance hereafter. What you see is only a broken piece from a perfect whole." "Such justice as we see is also but a broken shred. But it is our duty to preserve what we may, and fit together such fragments as we find, and take the rest on trust." suffering faith trust justice Ellis Peters
ad3b489 "Jack Holloway told me he would get the son of a bitch who killed my child and the mate of my child," Papa continued. "Jack Holloway did get that son of a bitch. Jack Holloway got you. You are the man who killed my child. Get off my planet, you son of a bitch." smackdown justice John Scalzi
5ddebb0 God may seem sometimes to forget for a while, whilst his justice reposes, but there always comes a moment when he remembers. justice Alexandre Dumas
0c9bad6 To be a Christian - a follower of Jesus Christ - is to love wisdom, love justice, and love freedom. freedom spirituality love wisdom christian justice Cornel West
b635d71 A ceux qui ignorent, enseignez-leur [...] Le coupable n'est pas celui qui y fait le peche, mais celui qui y a fait l'ombre. freedom justice Victor Hugo
a9ca461 "Peace": the fruit of justice done especially to the Self." self peace justice Alice Walker
2a20f61 Our teachers urged us toward the example of freedom marchers, Freedom Riders, and Freedom Summers, and it seemed that the month could not pass without a series of films dedicated to the glories of being beaten on camera. The black people in these films seemed to love the worst things in life - love the dogs that rent their children apart, the tear gas that clawed at their lungs, the firehorses that tore off their clothes and tumbled them into the streets. They seemed to love the men who raped them, the women who cursed them, love the children who spat on them, the terrorists that bombed them. Why are they showing this to us? Why were only our heroes nonviolent? I speak not of the morality of nonviolence, but of the sense that blacks are in especial need of this morality. reconciliation justice Ta-Nehisi Coates
e6c3f3b The judge speaks in the name of justice,' he said. 'The priest speaks in the name of pity, which is only a higher form of justice.' (Bishop Myriel) priesthood justice victor-hugo Victor Hugo
ef74bb9 They will say that the Universe has no purpose and no plan, that since a hundred suns explode every year in our Galaxy, at this very moment some race is dying in the depths of space. Whether that race has done good or evil during its lifetime will make no difference in the end: there is no divine justice, for there is no God. universe good god galaxy space sun race justice evil Arthur C. Clarke
bfbc608 "Si, de repente lo vi asi: la mayoria de la gente se engana mediante una doble creencia erronea: cree en el eterno recuerdo (de la gente, de las cosas, de los actos, de las naciones) y en la posibilidad de reparacion (de los actos, de los errores, de los pecados, de las injusticias.Ambas creencias son falsas. La realidad es precisamente al contrario: todo sera olvidado y nada sera reparado. El papel de la reparacion (de la venganza y el perdon) lo lleva a cabo el olvido. Nadie reparara las injusticias que se cometieron, pero todas las injusticias seran olvidadas"." revenge justice Milan Kundera
b7eb87e "And suddenly he became almost lyric. "For three thousand years the Common Man has been fended off from the full and glorious life he might have had, by Make Believe. For three thousand years in one form or another he has been asking for an unrestricted share in the universal welfare. He has been asking for a fair dividend from civilisation. For all that time, and still it goes on, the advantaged people, the satisfied people, the kings and priests, the owners and traders, the gentlefolk and the leaders he trusted, have been cheating him tacitly or deliberately, out of his proper share and contribution in the common life. Sometimes almost consciously, sometimes subconsciously, cheating themselves about it as well. When he called upon God, they said 'We'll take care of your God for you', and they gave him organised religion. When he calls for Justice, they say 'Everything decently and in order', and give him a nice expensive Law Court beyond his means. When he calls for order and safety too loudly they hit him on the head with a policeman's truncheon. When he sought knowledge, they told him what was good for him. And to protect him from the foreigner, so they said, they got him bombed to hell, trained him to disembowel his fellow common men with bayonets and learn what love of King and Country really means. "All with the best intentions in the world, mind you. "Most of these people, I tell you, have acted in perfect good faith. They manage to believe that in sustaining this idiot's muddle they are doing tremendous things -- stupendous things -- for the Common Man. They can live lives of quiet pride and die quite edifyingly in an undernourished, sweated, driven and frustrated world. Useful public servants! Righteous self-applause! Read their bloody biographies!" humanity order humankind justice power H.G. Wells
e81c60a war. Or, rather, wars. Not one, not two, but many wars, both big and small, just and unjust, wars with shifting casts of supposed heroes and villains, each new hero making one increasingly nostalgic for the old villain. The names changed, as did the faces, and I spit on them equally for all the petty feuds, the snipers, the land mines, bombing raids, the rockets, the looting and raping and killing. war heroes kabul justice Khaled Hosseini
a552d06 The issue, perhaps, boils down to one of how perceptions or misperceptions of racial difference impact various individuals', or groups of individuals', experience of freedom in America. Some would argue that it goes beyond hampering their 'pursuit of happiness' to outright obliterating it. racism equality freedom happiness demographics-of-united-states eric-garner george-zimmerman kajieme-powell killing-of-black-men-in-america michael-brown new-jim-crow pursuit-of-happiness racial-demographics tamir-rice trayvon-martin troy-anthony-davis mass-incarceration human-rights-day race-and-racism-in-america racial-discrimination diversity justice democracy Aberjhani
f70c3d3 Anger points powerfully to the denial of rights, but the exercise of rights can't life and thrive on anger. It lives and thrives on the dogged pursuit of justice. human-rights advocacy anger justice Ursula K. Le Guin
f3c1eea The only way I can keep clear of force is by justice. Far from being willing to execute his enemies, a real king must be willing to execute his friends. favoritism justice T.H. White
64020e5 Feminism has both undone the hierarchy in which the elements aligned with the masculine were given greater value than those of the feminine and undermined the metaphors that aligned these broad aspects of experience with gender. So, there goes women and nature. What does it leave us with? One thing is a political mandate to decentralize privilege and power and equalize access, and that can be a literal spatial goal too, the goal of our designed landscapes and even the managed ones -- the national parks, forests, refuges, recreation areas, and so on. feminism landscape environment justice Rebecca Solnit
aec3b82 There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent to slavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished by their vote. will then be the only slaves. slavery politics behavior voting justice Henry David Thoreau
cd84944 La justicia pertenece al campo de las fuerzas del alma. Y por eso puede brotar en los lugares menos propicios, pues cuando la llamamos, alli acude, a veces con la venda en los ojos pero alenta al oido, desde no se sabe muy bien donde, como una cosa anterior a jueces y acusados, incluso a las propias leyes escritas humanity el-lápiz-dek-carpintero terms historical laws justice Manuel Rivas
a421465 "I spent years," he told me, "studying the phenomenon of love." "And I spend years studying the phenomenon of justice." "At base, we spend years studying the same thing." equality love justice John Howard Griffin
76db216 We've reached a poor state when people are afraid that doing the decent and right thing is going to help the communist conspiracy. justice right-and-wrong John Howard Griffin
71d51b1 Morality he found amusing, in the obscure way that only a man with a Ph.D. in philosophy could find such things amusing, but justice and ethics were inflexible measures, applicable to all, and not to be joked about. morality philosophy universality justice Charlie Huston
803d9a6 "After his wife died, in great pain C. S. Lewis realized, "If I had really cared, as I thought I did, about the sorrows of the world, I should not have been so overwhelmed when my own sorrow came."3 Our own suffering is often our wake-up call. But even if you aren't now facing it, look around and you'll see many who are. ... Suffering and evil exert a force that either pushes us away from God or pulls us toward him. ... Unfortunately, most evangelical churches--whether traditional, liturgical, or emergent--have failed to teach people to think biblically about the realities of evil and suffering. A pastor's daughter told me, "I was never taught the Christian life was going to be difficult. I've discovered it is, and I wasn't ready." ... On the other side of death, the Bible promises that all who know him will fall into the open arms of a holy, loving, and gracious God--the greatest miracle, the answer to the problem of evil and suffering. He promises us an eternal kingdom on the New Earth, where he says of those who come to trust him in this present world of evil and suffering, "They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Revelation 21:3-4)" suffering faith god justice Randy Alcorn
645c5ff Once, I remember, Father Abbot said that our purpose is justice, and with God lies the privilege of mercy. But even God, when he intends mercy, needs tools to his hand. god mercy justice Ellis Peters
a196165 Caste system is the most brilliantly administered scam in history. equality justice Narendra Jadhav
2482301 Since most law-abiding citizens had no contact with the parole system, it was not a priority with the state legislatures. And since most of the state's prisoners were either poor or black, and unable to use the system to their advantage, it was easy to hit them with harsh sentences and keep them locked up. But for an inmate with a few connections and some cash, the parole system was a marvelous labyrinth of contradictory laws that allowed the Parole Board to pass out favors. injustice injustice-quotes judicial-system prison-system jury parole justice John Grisham
4856901 If an unjust law is passed and enforced, then anyone coerced to comply with the law is a victim of injustice. law justice R.C. Sproul
53b0e54 "Eventually, some black thinkers believe, this "separation" may be the shortest route to an authentic communication at some future date when blacks and whites can enter into encounters in which they truly speak as equals and in which the white man will no longer load every phrase with unconscious suggestions that he has something to "concede" to black men or that he wants to help black men "overcome" their blackness." racism negro racist white race separation justice John Howard Griffin
cb068c0 Early on he had been told the famous maxim of American justice, that it was better that a hundred men go free than that one innocent man be punished. Struck almost dumb by the beauty of the concept, he became an ardent patriot. America was his country. He would never leave America. american-justice justice Mario Puzo
24cdd1a The law. we are told, is what makes us men under God instead of beasts in the ditch irony justice-system the-law justice Bernard Cornwell
3d6e69c It does not matter that the 'intentions' of individual educators were noble. Forget about intentions. What any institution, or its agents, 'intend' for you is secondary. Our world is physical. Learn to play defense - ignore the heat and keep your eyes on the body. Very few Americans will directly proclaim that they are in favor of black people being left to the streets. But a very large number of Americans will do all they can to preserve the Dream. No one directly proclaimed that schools were designed to sanctify failure and destruction. But a great number of educators spoke of 'personal responsibility' in a country authored and sustained by a criminal irresponsibility. reconciliation justice Ta-Nehisi Coates
0e73410 After all, wasn't the system the problem? No matter who we voted for, the government always seemed to win. What was the point of living out my little fantasy of democratic change and Justice when the real action was being fought out in secrecy, with Anonymous envelopes of cash, encrypted Whispers, secret bunkers, and secret deals? goverment justice Cory Doctorow
258e49d Geography is not egalitarian. justice Thomas Sowell
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