Justice quotations Quotes

“A justice-thirsty country needs nothing but justice, neither bread nor anything else, only justice!”

“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests.”

“Walter made me understand why we have to reform a system of criminal justice that continues to treat people better if they are rich and guilty than if they are poor and innocent. A system that denies the poor the legal help they need, that makes wealth and status more important than culpability, must be changed. Walter's case taught me that fear and anger are a threat to justice; they can infect a community, a state, or a nation and make us blind, irrational, and dangerous. I reflected on how mass imprisonment has littered the national landscape with carceral monuments of reckless and excessive punishment and ravaged communities with our hopeless willingness to condemn and discard the most vulnerable among us.”

“Harsh justice is still justice.”

“A blind Justice is merely an impartial Justice. True Justice would have eyes in the back of her head and a pair of mismatched shoes.”

“Justice doesn't have a finish line, and neither does education. We never reach a point where we cannot learn, where ceasing to learn would make us, or the world, better. It takes perseverance to walk the road of justice, and we cannot know where or when--or if--it will end for us.”

“There is no justice in social justice, and there is no equality in social equality.”

“Hard edges make truth and by necessity, truth is unbending. Unlike truth’s absolutism, justice is a qualitative substance; it is not an absolute tenet. Justice must be pliable in order to meet the needs of more than one person or one group. Justice goes against separation; it is a form of human superglue. Justice is what binds us as people. No human is capable of measuring out or dispensing unqualified justice. Justice naturally seeks conciliation and demands compromise.”

“There can be no justice so long as law is absolute. Even life itself is an excercise in exceptions.”“When has justice ever been as simple as a rule-book?” - Riker”