Of crimes injurious to the persons of private subjects, the most principal and important is the offense of taking away that life, which is the immediate gift of the great creator; and which therefore no man can be entitled to deprive himself or another of, but in some manner either expressly commanded in, or evidently deducible from, those laws which the creator has given us; the divine laws, I mean, of either nature or revelation.

William Blackstone (1723-1780) British jurist, judge, politician

Commentaries on the Laws of England, Book 4, ch. 14 “Of Homicide” (1765-1769)
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