Rule
of Law
QUOTES
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"There
is a Law that man should love his neighbor as himself.
In a few hundred years it should be as natural to
mankind as breathing or the upright gait; but if he
does not learn it he must perish."
-- Alfred Adler
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It
is ironic that in a democracy where all are
free and enjoy equal rights, we must also have
laws -- equal responsibilities -- so that the
rights and freedom of others are protected.
However, in a democracy, laws must also be fair,
clearly defined, and applied equally to all
members of the society -- both citizens and
rulers.
-- Robert Alan
Silverstein
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Somehow
people are starting to think of "entitlements' as
'extra unearned luxuries' that should be taken away
during hard times. But the definition of an entitlement
is a right that is granted by law or by nature, to
which all are guaranteed access. True entitlements
are basic needs not luxury items. When politicians
insist on cutting 'entitlements' they need to ensure
that only luxuries are on the cutting block not basic
needs.
We
have forgotten the basic SOCIAL CONTRACT of rights
and responsibilities that binds us together as a society.
Society expects citizens to follow laws it has instated
in order to protect individuals and institutions.
Without these laws there would be chaos -- the strong
would simply take anything they wanted and the rest
would have no recourse. In return the social contract
guarantees that if people follow these rules or responsibilities
they will be guaranteed basic rights - life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. A guarantee of life
ensures they will have access to basic human needs
of water, food and shelter needed to live and to support
their family. Liberty involves the ability to engage
in activities the individual wishes, as long as it
does not violate the law. The pursuit of happiness
is a guarantee that the laws are meant to be fair
and provide an equal playing field for all members
of society, so that through hard work and creative
enterprise, all law-abiding citizens are free to strive
to attain the wants and desires they believe will
bring them happiness.
--
Robert Alan Silverstein
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"As
labor creates the wealth of the country, we
demand the passage of such laws as may be necessary
to protect it in all its rights."
-- John Peter
Altgeld
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“Law;
an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by
him who has care of the community”
-- St. Thomas Aquinas quotes (1225-1274)
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I
cannot accept that to be realistic means to tolerate
misery, violence and hate. I do not believe that
the hungry man should be treated as subversive
for expressing his suffering. I shall never accept
that the law can be used to justify tragedy, to
keep things as they are, to make us abandon our
ideas of a different world. Law is the path of
liberty, and must as such open the way to progress
for everyone.
-- Oscar Arias Sanchez
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The
only stable state is the one in which all men
are equal before the law.
-- Aristotle
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"It
is quite clear that as long as the nations of
the world spend most of their energy, money, and
emotional strength in quarreling with words and
weapons, a true offensive against the common problems
that threaten human survival is not very likely.
A world government that can channel human efforts
in the direction of the great solutions seems
desirable, even essential. Naturally, such a world
government should be a federal one, with regional
and local autonomy safeguarded and with cultural
diversity promoted."
-- Isaac Asimov
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The
rule of law in place of force, always basic
to my thinking, now takes on a new relevance
in a world where, if war is to go, only law
can replace it.
-- Roger
Nash Baldwin
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"Always
we must bear in mind that law has to be substituted
for power, that care must be taken to serve
the interests of law."
-- Fredrik Bajer
pacifists
should stress more and more that it is the rule
of law for which they are fighting.
-- Fredrik Bajer
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Sometimes
the law defends plunder and participates in it. Thus
the beneficiaries are spared the shame and danger
that their acts would otherwise involve... But how
is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply.
See if the law takes from some persons what belongs
to them and gives it to the other persons to whom
it doesn't belong. See if the law benefits one citizen
at the expense of another by doing what the citizen
himself cannot do without committing a crime. Then
abolish that law without delay ... No legal plunder;
this is the principle of justice, peace, order, stability,
harmony and logic.
-- Frederic Bastiat
At
the foundation of our civil liberties lies the principle
that denies to government officials an exceptional
position before the law and which subjects them to
the same rules of conduct that are commands to the
citizen.
-- Justice Louis D. Brandeis
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if
globalization is to realise its potential as
a force for good, we have to look more closely
at the means by which we handle our growing
interdependence. We do not have a world government,
but we do have an increasingly complex network
of institutions that are concerned with global
governance. They are central to our future and
international human rights law,
-- Gro
Brundtland
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Democracy
is not the law
of the majority but the protection of the minority.
-- Albert Camus
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The
law is not the private property of lawyers,
nor is justice the exclusive province of judges
and juries. In the final analysis, true justice
is not a matter of courts and law books, but
of a commitment in each of us to liberty and
mutual respect.
-- Jimmy Carter
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There
is no reason to accept the doctrines crafted
to sustain power and privilege, or to believe
that we are constrained by mysterious and
unknown social laws. These are simply decisions
made within institutions that are subject
to human will and that must face the test
of legitimacy. And if they do not meet the
test, they can be replaced by other institutions
that are more free and more just, as has happened
often in the past.
-- Noam Chomsky
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"Unless
some effective world supergovernment for the purpose
of preventing war can be set up ... the prospects
for peace and human progress are dark ....If ....
it is found possible to build a world organization
of irresistible force and inviolable authority for
the purpose of securing peace, there are no limits
to the blessings which all men enjoy and share."
--Winston Churchill
"Unless
we establish some form of world government, it will
not be possible for us to avert a World War III in
the future."
--Winston Churchill
"We
are in bondage to the law so that we might be free."
-- Cicero (106-43 BC)
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In
our hearts and in our laws, we must treat all
our people with fairness and dignity, regardless
of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
. . .
~ Bill Clinton
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"It
is rather astonishing that the United States
does not play ball with the ICC, considering
our country was the beacon of the idea of an
international criminal court."
-- George Clooney
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It
may be that for a long time some nations will
continue to fight each other, but the example
of those nations who prefer arbitration to war,
law courts to the battlefield, must sooner or
later influence the belligerent powers and make
war as unpopular as pugilism is now.
-- William Randal
Cremer
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"Those advocates who work for world peace by
urging a system of world government are called
impractical dreamers. Those impractical dreamers
are entitled to ask their critics what is so
practical about war."
-- Walter Cronkite
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