Suerlye my lorde, I thinke it not ryght nor justice, that the losse of money should cause the losse of mans life. For myne opinion is, that all the goodes in the worlde are not hable to countervayle mans life. But if they would thus say; that the breakynge of justice, and the transgression of the lawes is recompensed with this punishment, and not the losse of the money, then why maye not this extreme and rigorous justice wel be called plaine injurie? For so cruell govemaunce, so streite rules, and unmercyful lawes be not allowable, that if a small offense be committed, by and by the sword should be drawen: nor so stoical ordinaunces are to be borne withall, as to counte al offenses of suche equalitie, that the killing of a man, or the takyng of his money from him were both a matter, and the one no more heinous offense then the other: betwene the whyche two, yf we have anye respecte to equitie, no similitude or equalitie consisteth.
[tr. Robynson (1551)]

It seems to me a very unjust thing to take away a Man's Life for a little Mony; for notyhing in the World can be of equal value with a Man's Life: and if it is said, that it is not for the Mony that one suffers, but for his breaking the Law; I must say extream Justice is an extream Injury: for we ought not to approve of these terrible Laws that make the smallest Offences capital; nor of that Opinion of the Stoicks that makes all Crimes equal, as if there were no difference to be made between the killing of a Man, and the taking his Purse; between wich if we examine things impartially, there is no likeness nor proportion.
[tr. Burnet (1684)]

It seemeth very unjust to me to take away life for a little money, for nothing can be of equal value with life. And if it be said, that the suffering is not for the money, but for the breach of the law, I answer, extreme justice is an extreme injury. For we ought not to approve of those terrible laws, which make the smallest offences capital, nor of that opinion of the stoics which maketh all crimes equal: as if no difference were to be made between killing a man and taking his purse, between which, in reality, there is the greatest disproportion.
[tr. Cayley (1808)]

Surely my lord, I think it not right nor justice, that the loss of money should cause the loss of man’s life. For mine opinion is, that all the goods in the world are not able to countervail man’s life. But if they would thus say: that the breaking of justice, and the transgression of the laws is recompensed with this punishment, and not the loss of the money, then why may not this extreme justice well be called extreme injury? For neither so cruel governance, so strait rules, and unmerciful laws be allowable, that if a small offence be committed, by-and-by the sword should be drawn: nor so stoical ordinances are to be borne withal, as to count all offences of such equality that the killing of a man, or the taking of his money from him were both a matter, and the one no more heinous offence than the other: between the which two, if we have any respect to equity, no similitude or equality consisteth.
[tr. Robinson (1909 ed.)]

Certainly, right reverend father and my kind lord, I think it quite unjust that a man should lose his life for the loss of money. For in my opinion not all the goods that fortune can bestow on us can be set in the scale against a man's life. But if they say that this penalty is attached to the offence against justice and the breaking of the laws, and not to the theft of money, one may well style this extreme justice as extreme wrong. For we ought not to approve of such stern rules of law as should justify the drawing of the sword, when they are disobeyed in trifles, nor on the other hand such Stoical ordinances as count all offences equal, so that there is no difference whether one kills a man or robs him of a coin, when if equity has any meaning, there is no similarity or connexion between the two cases. God has said, "Thou shalt not kill," and shall we so lightly kill a man for taking a little money?
[tr. Richards (1923)]

Your Grace, it seems to me quite unjust to take a man's life because he's taken some money. To my mind, no amount of property is equivalent to a human life. If it's argued that the punishment is not for taking the money, but for breaking the law and violating justice, isn't this conception of absolute justice absolutely unjust? One really can’t approve of a régime so dictatorial that the slightest disobedience is punishable by death, nor of a legal code based on the Stoic paradox that all offences are equal — so that there’s no distinction in law between theft and murder, though in equity the two things are so completely different.
[tr. Turner (1965 ed.)]

Certainly, most reverend and kind Father, I think it altogether unjust that a man should suffer the loss of his life for the loss of someone’s money. In my opinion, not all the goods that fortune can bestow on us can be set in the scale against a man’s life. If they say that this penalty is attached to the offense against justice and the breaking of the laws, hardly to the money stolen, one may well characterize this extreme justice as extreme wrong. For we ought not to approve such stern Manlian rules of law as would justify the immediate drawing of the sword when they are disobeyed in trifles nor such Stoical ordinances as count all offenses equal so that there is no difference between killing a man and robbing him of a coin when, if equity has any meaning, there is no similarity or connection between the two cases.
[tr. Richards/Surtz (1964)]

It seems to me, most kind and reverend father, that it's altogether unjust to take away a man's life for the loss of someone's money. Nothing in the world that fortune can bestow is equal in value to a man's life. If they say the thief suffers not for the money, but for violation of justice and transgression of laws, then this extreme justice should really be called extreme injury. We ought not to approve of these fierce Manlian laws that invoke the sword for the smallest violations. Neither should we accept the Stoic view that considers all crimes equal, as if there were no difference between killing a man and taking a coin from him. If equity means anything, there is no proportion or relation at all between these two crimes.
[tr. Adams (1992 ed.)]

In my judgement, he
Who tramples on the laws, but can express
His thoughts with plausibility, deserves
Severest punishment: for that injustice
On which he glories, with his artful tongue.
That he a fair appearance can bestow,
He dares to practise.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]

Th' injurious man, whose tongue
Flows with pernicious rhetoric, I hold
To merit the severest punishment.
For confident his speech can varnish o'er
The blackest deeds, his craft dares venture on them.
[tr. Potter (1814)]

For him who does wrong and is wise to gloze it
I hold worth worser doom. For making sure
He'll show wrong gracious with his tongue, he's bold
To every crime.
[tr. Webster (1868)]

To my mind, whoso hath skill to fence with words in an unjust cause, incurs the heaviest penalty; for such an one, confident that he can cast a decent veil of words o'er his injustice, dares to practise it.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

In my judgment, whatever man being unjust, is deeply skilled in argument, merits the severest punishment. For vaunting that with his tongue he can well gloze over injustice, he dares to work deceit.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

For in my sight the villain subtle-tongued
Getteth himself for gain exceeding loss,
Who, confident his tongue can gloze the wrong,
Becomes a bold knave.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

To me it seemeth, when
A crafty tongue is given to evil men
'Tis like to wreck, not help them. Their own brain
Tempts them with lies to dare and dare again,
Till .... [tr. Murray (1906)]

I think that the plausible speaker
Who is a villain deserves the greatest punishment.
Confident in his tongue’s power to adorn evil,
He stops at nothing.
[tr. Warner (1944)]

To me, a wicked man who is also eloquent
Seems the most guilty of them all. He’ll cut your throat
As bold as brass, because he knows he can dress up murder
In handsome words.
[tr. Vellacott (1963)]

For me, the man who is a villain, but clever
In speech, would have to pay the highest fine;
Confident of cloaking his villainy in fine words,
He dares anything.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]

To my mind, the plausible speaker who is a scoundrel incurs the greatest punishment. For since he is confident that he can cleverly cloak injustice with his words, his boldness stops at no knavery.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]

For in my eyes the criminal with a gift for speaking deserves the worst of punishments. So confident is he in his tongue’s ability to dress his foul thoughts in fair words, there is nothing he dares not do.
[tr. Davie (1996)]

What I believe, for example is the more eloquent the misfit, the greater the punishment he deserves because, thinking that his eloquence and his pretty words will get him out of any injustice, he has the audacity to commit even greater evils.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]

In my opinion,
the unjust man who speaks so plausibly
brings on himself the harshest punishment.
Since he’s sure his tongue can hide injustice,
he dares anything.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 689ff]

To my mind, whoever is naturally sophos in speaking but has no dikē deserves the heaviest punishment. Such a man boasts that he can cast a decent veil of words over his unjust deeds, and boldly proceeds to wickedness.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]

To my mind, the plausible speaker who is a scoundrel incurs the greatest punishment. For since he is confident that he can cleverly cloak injustice with his words, his boldness stops at no dishonesty.
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]

He that sinneth, sinneth unto himself. He that is unjust, hurts himself, in that he makes himself worse than he was before.
[tr. Casaubon (1634)]

He that commits a Fault Abroad , is a Trespasser at Home; And he that injures his Neighbour, hurts himself , for to make himself an ill Man is a shrew'd Michief.
[tr. Collier (1701)]

He who does wrong, does a wrong to himself. He who is injurious, does evil to himself, by making himself evil.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]

He that commits a crime, is guilty of an offence against his own interest, and he that acts unjustly, injures himself: for to make himself a bad man, is an essential injury.
[tr. Graves (1792)]

He who does wrong does wrong against himself. He who acts unjustly acts unjustly to himself, because he makes himself bad.
[tr. Long (1862)]

He that commits a fault abroad is a trespasser at home; and he that injures his neighbour, hurts himself, for to make himself an evil man is a great mischief.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

He who sins, sins against himself; he who does wrong, wrongs himself, making himself evil.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]

He that does wrong, does wrong to himself. The unjust man is unjust to himself, for he makes himself bad.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]

Whosoever does wrong, wrongs himself; whosoever does injustice, does it to himself, making himself evil.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]

The sinner sins against himself; the wrongdoer wrongs himself, becoming the worse by his own action.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]

Whoever does wrong, wrongs himself; whosever acts unjustly, acts unjustly toward himself, because he makes himself bad.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed., 2011 ed.)]

To do harm is to do yourself harm. To do an injustice is to do yourself an injustice -- it degrades you.
[tr. Hays (2003)]

The sinner sins against himself: the wrongdoer wrongs himself, by making himself morally bad.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]

He who acts wrongly harms himself. If a person commits an injustice, he acts badly toward himself, thus making himself bad.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]

He that is unjust, is also impious. For the nature of the universe, having made all reasonable creatures one for another, to the end that they should do one another good; more or less according to the several persons and occasions but in nowise hurt one another: it is manifest that he that doth transgress against this her will, is guilty of impiety towards the most ancient and venerable of all the deities. For the nature of the universe, is the nature the common parent of all, and therefore piously to be observed of all things that are, and that which now is, to whatsoever first was, and gave it its being, hath relation of blood and kindred.
[tr. Casaubon (1634)]

To play the Knave is to Rebel against Religion, all sort of Injustice is no less then High Treason against Heaven: For since the Nature, or Soul of the Universe has made Rational Creatures for mutual Service, and Support Made them that they should Assist, and Oblige each other, according to the Regards of Circumstance, and Merit; but never do any body any Harm: The Case standing thus, he that crosses upon this Design, is Prophane in his Contradiction , and Outrages the most Antient Deity. For the Nature of the Universe is the Cause of it , and that which gives it Being. Thus all things are one Family, suited , and as it were of Kin to each other.
[tr. Collier (1701)]

He who does an injury is guilty of impiety. For, since the nature of the whole has formed the rational animals for one another; each for being useful to the other according to his merit, and never hurtful; he who transgresses this her will, is thus guilty of impiety against the most ancient and venerable of the Gods. For the nature of the whole is the nature of all things which exist; and things which exist, are a-kin to their causes.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]

He that acts unjustly, acts impiously. For God, or the Universal Nature, having produced all rational creatures to be mutually serviceable to each other, according to their respective merits, and by no means to injure each other; he who violates this first principle of nature, prophanely insults the most antient of all Deities. For this Universal Nature is the cause of all things that exist which are connected with each other by mutual friendship and alliance.
[tr. Graves (1792)]

He who acts unjustly acts impiously. For since the universal nature has made rational animals for the sake of one another, to help one another according to their deserts, but in no way to injure one another, he who transgresses her will is clearly guilty of impiety towards the highest divinity.
[tr. Long (1862)]

Injustice is no less than high treason against heaven. For since the nature of the universe has made rational creatures for mutual service and support, but never to do anybody any harm, since the case stands thus: he that crosses upon this design is profane, and outrages the most ancient Deity.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]

To be unjust is to sin. By Nature rational beings have been constituted for one another's sake, each to help each according to its worth, and in wise to hurt: and he who transgresses the will of Nature, sins -- to wit, against the primal deity.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]

He who does injustice commits impiety. For since universal Nature has formed the rational animals for one another; each to be useful to the other according to his merit, and never hurtful; he who transgresses this her will is clearly guilty of impiety against the most ancient and venerable of the Gods.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]

Injustice is impiety. For in that the Nature of the Universe has fashioned rational creatures for the sake of one another with a view to mutual benefit based upon worth, but by no means for harm, the transgressor of her will acts with obvious impiety against the most venerable of Deities.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]

Whosoever does injustice commits sin; for Universal Nature having made reasonable creatures for the sake of one another, to benefit each other according to desert but in no wise to do injury, manifestly he who transgresses her will sins against the most venerable of the gods, because Universal Nature is a nature of what is, and what is is related to all that exists.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]

Injustice is a sin. Nature has constituted rational beings for their own mutual benefit, each to help his fellows according to their worth, and in no wise to do them hurt; and to contravene her will is plainly to sin against this eldest of all the deities.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]

Whoever commits injustice acts irreverently; for since universal nature has created rational creatures for the sake of one another, to benefit their fellows according to their deserts and in no wise to do them harm, it is plain that one who offends against her will is guilty of irreverence towards the most venerable of gods.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.); tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]

Injustice is sin. When universal Nature has constituted rational creatures for the sake of each other -- to benefit one another as deserved, but never to harm -- anyone contravening her will is clearly guilty of sin against the oldest of the gods: because universal Nature is the nature of ultimate reality, to which all present existence is related.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]

No tyranny can have a severer effect that that which is exercised under the appearance of laws, and with the plausible colours of justice, when the executors of cruel power would, if we may use the expression, drown the unhappy wretches on the very plank that before saved them admidst the troubled waves.
[tr. B--- (1734)]

There is no tyranny more cruel than that which is perpetrated under the color of the laws and in the name of justice -- when, so to speak, one is drawn down and drowned by means of the very plank which should have borne him up and saved his life.
[tr. Baker (1882)]

There is no tyranny more cruel than that which is exercised within the shade of the law and with the colours of justice.
[E.g.]

There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.
[E.g.]

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.
[E.g.]

First, though my life is pure from guilt, my name
Is infamous; this ill, this charge of crimes
From which the soul is free, is more severe
Than what from truth arises.
[tr. Potter (1783), l. 304ff]

First of all exposed
To slanderous tongues, although I ne'er have erred.
It were a lesser evil e'en to sin
Than be suspected falsely.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

First indeed, not being unjust, I am in ill repute; and this is a greater evil than the truth, when any one is charged with evils he does not possess.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

First, although I never acted wrongly, my good name is gone. And this trouble is stronger than the reality, if someone incurs blame for wrongs that are not his own.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

First, an ill name, though I am clean of sin;
And worse is this than suffering for just cause,
To bear the burden of sins that are not ours.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1912)]

First, I have lost my name, thought I have done no wrong;
and it is worse than suffering what one deserves
if one must suffer for the things one never did.
[tr. Warner (1951)]

In the first place, though I am innocent, my name is a byword of reproach; and if there is any worse fate than suffering for real crimes, it is suffering for crimes that were never committed.
[tr. Vellacott (1954)]

I have done nothing wrong and yet my reputation
is bad, and worse than a true evil is it to bear
the burden of faults that are not truly yours.
[tr. Lattimore (1956)]

First of all, I am blameless,
and yet I am blamed.
It is easier to bear what belongs to you
than what does not.
[tr. Meagher (1986)]

Firstly, I have done nothing wrong and yet my name is reviled. When someone is punished though innocent of crime, it is a worse affliction than getting his just deserts.
[tr. Davie (2002)]

First, although I never sinned, my good name is gone. And this is a grief beyond the reality, if a man incurs blame for sins that are not his.
[tr. Athenian Society (2006)]

First, I am not wicked, but people think I am.
There's nothing worse than being innocent,
But treated as guilty.
[tr. A. Wilson (2007)]

To begin with, my good reputation has been destroyed though I have done nothing wrong, and there’s nothing worse than to be burdened by the shame which one has not earned.
[tr. Theodoridis (2011)]

First, though I’ve done nothing wrong, my name is loathed.
It’s so much worse to be scorned for things you haven’t done
than to suffer honest charges!
[Ambrose et al. (2018)]

First, although I never acted wrongly, my good name is gone. And this trouble [kakon] is stronger than the truth [alētheia], if someone incurs blame for evils [kaka] that are not his own. [tr. Coleridge / Helen Heroization Team]

One thing there is, and that only, which is worth our while in this world, and ought by us much to be esteemed; and that is, according to truth and righteousness, meekly and lovingly to converse with false, and unrighteous men.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 6.42]

In a word. There's only one thing here worth the minding; And that is, not to imitate the Degeneracy of Mortals: But to be True, Honest, and Good-natur'd, even amongst Knaves, and Sharpers.
[tr. Collier (1701)]

The one thing valuable in this life, is, to spend it in a steady course of truth, justice, and humanity, toward even the false and unjust.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]

In short, there is nothing here much worth our attention, but to act on all occasions with a regard to truth and justice, and to live peaceably even with those who act with fraud and injustice.
[tr. Graves (1792), 6.41]

One thing here is worth a great deal, to pass thy life in truth and justice, with a benevolent disposition even to liars and unjust men.
[tr. Long (1862)]

Here one thing is of real worth, to live out life in truth and justice, with charity even to the false and the unjust.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]

The one precious thing in life is to spend it in a steady course of truth and justice, with kindliness even for the false and the unjust.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]

One thing on earth is worth much -- to live out our lives in truth and justice, and in charity with liars and unjust men.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]

One thing here is of great price, to live out life with truth and righteousness, gracious to liars and to the unrighteous.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]

In this life one thing only is of precious worth: to live out one's days in truthfulness and fair dealing, and in charity even with the false and unjust.
[tr. Staniforth (1964)]

In this world there is only one thing of real value, to pass our days in truth and justice, and yet be gracious to those who are false and unjust.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed.)]

The only thing that isn’t worthless: to live this life out truthfully and rightly. And be patient with those who don't.
[tr. Hays (2003)]

In this world there is only one thing of value, to live out your life in truth and justice, tolerant of those who are neither true nor just.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]

In this world there is only one thing of real value, to pass our days in truth and justice, and yet be gracious to those who are false and unjust.
[tr. Hard (2011 ed.)]

So there is one thing that is of most value: to live out your life in truth and justice and be kind to those who are false and unjust.
[tr. Gill (2013)]

So one thing is worth much: to keep on living with truth and justice and in good will even among liars and unjust men.
[tr. @sentantiq (2019)]

For twofold ruin doth impend
O'er him who human laws pursue,
And righteous Gods indignant view.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

For where the rites of hospitality coincide with justice, and with the Gods, on the villain who dares to violate these destructive, destructive indeed impends the evil.
[tr. Edwards (1826)]

For wherever it cometh to pass that the rightful demand
Of justice's claim and the laws of the Gods be at one,
Then is ruinous bane for the sinner, O ruinous bane!
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]

When the Gods and Justice meet,
And the Pledge that is forfeited,
The end is Ruin.
[tr. Sheppard (1924)]

For the rights of justice and of the gods do not fall together; there is ruin full of death and doom.
[tr. Coleridge (1938)]

Justice and the gods
exact the loan at last.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1958)]

When the gods call in their debt
and Justice wants your scalp as well,
better for you if you were dead
as your life will be one long hell.
[tr. Harrison (2005)]

Because when Justice and Heaven are both transgressed, there will be doom. Doom and more doom!
[tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

Where justice and the gods converge, there’s a maelstrom.
[tr. Karden/Street (2011)]

No ill-gotten wealth possess.
If in thy mansions long thou hop'st-to dwells
For there is no reliance on that gold
Which through injustice enters our abodes.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

For my part, I never cease urging peace, which, however unfair, is better than the justest war in the world.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900), #309]

As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars.
[tr. Winstedt (Loeb) (1913)]

Else shall we cease to think that any Gods
Exist, if Villainy prevail o'er Justice.
[tr. Wodhull (1809); Electra speaking]

Else we must no longer believe in gods, if wrong is to be victorious over right.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

It behooves one no longer to think that there are Gods, if unjust deeds get the advantage of justice.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]

We must believe no more
In Gods, if wrong shall triumph over right.
[tr. Way (1896)]

Else men shall know there is no God, no light
In Heaven, if wrong to the end shall conquer right.
[tr. Murray (1905)]

Else must we cease to believe in gods, if wrong is to triumph o'er right.
[tr. Coleridge (1938 ed.)]

For if wrongful acts
triumph over justice, then no longer
should we put any of our faith in gods.
[tr. Johnston (2009), l. 699ff]

Peace: the which, though it were accompanied with unequall conditions, yet I preferred it before warre, which on our behalfe was most just.
[tr. Webbe (1620)]

Contests of this kind, tho' ever so justly founded, even the most disadvantageous terms of accommodation were preferable to having recourse to arms.
[tr. Melmoth (1753), 9.34]

Why I would choose the most unfair peace in preference to the fairest of wars.
[tr. Jeans (1880), # 91]

A peace even on the most unfavourable terms was preferable to the most righteous of wars.
[tr. Williams (Loeb) (1928)]

[...] the most inequitable peace as preferable to the most righteous of wars.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1978), # 234]

I would prefer the most unfair peace to the justest war.
[tr. @sententiq (2012)]

Everywhere I find nothing but base flattery, in justice, self-interest, deceit, roguery. I cannot bear it any longer; I am furious; and my intention is to break with all mankind.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]

I find nothing anywhere but base flattery, injustice, interest, treachery, and knavery. I can contain myself no longer; I am. in a rage, and my purpose is to break off all intercourse with all mankind.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]

Everywhere I find base flattery, injustice, self-interest, treachery, deceit. I cannot bear it any longer; I am enraged; and my intention is to tell the truth, henceforth, to all the human race.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]

Nothing is to be seen anywhere but base flattery, injustice, self-interest, deceit, roguery. I cannot bear it any longer: I am furious: and it is my intention to break a lance with all mankind.
[tr. Waller (1903)]

There's nowhere aught but dastard flattery,
Injustice, treachery, selfishness, deceit;
I can't endure it, I go mad -- and mean
Squarely to break with all the human race.
[tr. Page (1913)]

All I see everywhere is flattery,
Injustice, treason, selfishness, deceit.
It makes me furious; I cannot stand it;
I will defy the entire human race.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]

Cowardly flattery is all I see,
Injustice, selfishness, fraud, treachery;
I've had my fill; it makes me mad; I plan
To clash head-on with the whole race of man.
[tr. Frame (1967)]

Men may commit injustice, because it is in their interest to do it, and they chuse rather to satisfy themselves and others. It is always with an eye to themselves that they act: no body is wicked gratis: he will have some reason to sway him; and that reason is always a reason of interest.
[tr. Ozell (1760 ed.)]

Men may do injustice, because it is in their interest to commit it, and because they prefer their own private satisfaction to that of others. It is always with a view to themselves that they act: nobody is wicked for nothing: he must have some reason that determines himl and this reason is always a reason of interest.
[tr. Floyd (1762), # 83]

Men act unjustly, because it is their interest to do so, and because they prefer their own satisfaction to that of others. They act always to secure some advantage to themselves: no one is a villain gratis; there is always a determining motive, and that motive is always an interested one.
[tr. Davidson (1891)]

Men act unjustly, because it is their interest to do so, and they prefer their own satisfaction to that of others. In acting they always have in view the effect their action will have on themselves: no one is bad for nothing; every one must have a determining motive, and that motive is self-interest.
[tr. Betts (1897)]

Men can commit injustices, because it is in their interest to do so, and they would rather satisfy themselves than others. It is always through thinking of themselves that they act unjustly; no one is gratuitously bad, there must be a reason which determines the act, and that reason is invariably one of self-interest.
[tr. Mauldon (2008)]

Men are capable of injustice, because their self-interest leads them toward it, and because they prefer their own satisfaction to that of others. Everything always revolves around themselves. No evil is ever done gratuitously, for there is always a reason behind it, and that reason is always one of self-interest.
[tr. MacKenzie (2014), # 83]

There are two things to which we must become inured on pain of finding life intolerable: the outrages of time and man's injustice.
[tr. Mathers (1926)]

There are two things that one must get used to or one will find life unendurable: the damages of time and the injustices of men.
[tr. Merwin (1969)]

There are two things that a man must reconcile himself to, or he will find life unbearable: they are the injuries of time and the injuries of men.
[tr. Siniscalchi (1994)]

For life's not worth retaining when we see
The wicked crown'd with undeserv'd applause.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

It is not worth living, if people see bad men unjustly honored.
[tr. Collard, Hargreaves, Cropp (1995)]

Life has no value when the bad are seen to thrive unjustly.
[tr. Stevens (2012)]

Justice thus abbreviated satisfied them; the pace was quickened, and no obstacles were left to fret them. They limited themselves to an inquiry into the opinions of the accused, not conceiving it possible that anyone could think differently from themselves except in pure perversity. Believing themselves the exclusive possessors of truth, wisdom, the quintessence of good, they attributed to their opponents noting but error and evil. They felt themselves all-powerful; they envisaged God.
[tr. Allinson (1913), Jackson (1921)]

Justice, thus curtailed, satisfied them; the pace was quickened and no obstacles were left to confuse them. They confined themselves to inquiring into the opinions of the accused, not conceiving it possible that anyone, except from pure perversity, could think differently from themselves. Believing themselves to possess a monopoly of truth, wisdom and goodness, they attributed to their opponents all error, stupidity and evil. They felt themselves omnipotent: their eyes had seen God.
[tr. Davies (1979)]

La justice abrégée les contentait. Rien, dans sa marche accélérée, ne les troublait plus. Ils s’enquéraient seulement des opinions des accusés, ne concevant pas qu’on pût sans méchanceté penser autrement qu’eux. Comme ils croyaient posséder la vérité, la sagesse, le souverain bien, ils attribuaient à leurs adversaires l’erreur et le mal. Ils se sentaient forts : ils voyaient Dieu.
[Original]

That heav'ns are voide, & that no gods there are,
Rich Paulus saith, and all his proofe is this:
That while such blasphemies pronounce he dare,
He liveth here in ease, and earthly blisse.
[tr. Harington (1618), ep. 110 (Book 2, ep. 14), "Against an Atheist"]

Selius affirms, in heav'n no gods there are:
And while he thrives, and they their thunder spare,
His daring tenet to the world seems fair.
[tr. Killigrew (1695)]

Selius asserts, there is no providence:
Anmd what he thus asserts, he proves from hence;
Tht such a villain as himself still lives;
And, what is more, is courted too, and thrives.
[tr. Hay (1755)]

A Selius swears there is no god,
And thus attests an oath so odd.
Heaven has no habitant, quoth he;
Else how could heaven so smile on me?
[tr. Elphinston (1782), Book 7, ep. 12]

That there's no God, John gravely swears,
And quotes, in proof, his own affairs;
For how should such an atheist thrive,
If there was any God alive?
[Anon., Westminster Review, 1853-04]

Selius affirms that there are no Gods, and that Heaven is empty; and he produces a proof of his assertion; viz. that while he denies all Providence, he beholds himself affluent.
[tr. Amos (1858)]

Selius affirms that there are no gods, and that heaven is empty; and thinks he has sufficient proof of his opinion in seeing himself become rich while he maintains it.
[tr. Bohn's Classical (1859)]

"There are no gods: heaven is empty," Segius asserts; and he proves it, for in the midst of these denials he sees himself made rich!
[tr. Ker (1919)]

When Segius declaims he knows
That Heaven is void and gods are not,
It is because his record shows
That knaves may have a prosperous lot.
[tr. Pott & Wright (1921), "The Test of Facts"]

"There are no gods," says Segius, "and the blue
Is void." He lives and thrives and proves it true.
[tr. Francis & Tatum (1924), ep. 169]

"There are no gods, and heaven's all a lie!
No gods," said Segius, "give a damn or care
What happens to us." And he must be right:
Today the rat's a multi-millionaire.
[tr. Marcellino (1968)]

Sergius swears by the hollow sky that there are no gods,
and the truth is plain, since he,
denouncing them, is wealthy as can be.
[tr. Bovie (1970)]

"The skies are empty
and the gods are dead,"
says Segius, the proof of which
is that he sees himself made rich.
[tr. Porter (1972)]

"God doesn't exist, there's no one in the skies,"
Says Segius. If it's justice he denies,
He's right: would he be wealthy otherwise?
[tr. Michie (1972)]

Segius declares that there are no gods, that the sky is empty; and proves it, for in the course of these denials he sees himself become a rich man.
[tr. Shackleton Bailey (1993)]

This darkling world he claims, with rue
Has run itself into a ditch.
And he can prove his thesis true:
In such a cosmos -- he is rich.
[tr. Wills (2007)]

Segius says there are no gods, no heaven.
The proof he offers? He's a rich man.
[tr. Kennelly (2008), "Proof"]

Segius asserts that there are no gods, that heaven is empty. And he’s the proof, because, even as he denies these things, he sees that he’s become prosperous.
[tr. @aleatorclassicus (2012)]

Segius claims there are no gods, the skies
are bare. He proves it, too: while he denies
the gods exist, he sees his fortune rise.
[tr. McLean (2014)]

There can be but one essential justice, which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.
[tr. Barham (1842)]

For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.
[tr. Barham/Yonge (1878)]

There is one, single, justice. It binds together human society and has been established by one, single, law. That law is right reason in commanding and forbidding. A man who does not acknowledge this law is unjust, whether it has been written down anywhere or not.
[tr. Rudd (1998)]

There is only one justice, which constitutes the bond among humans, and which was established by the one law, which is right reason in commands and prohibitions. The person who does not know it is unjust, whether the law has been written anywhere or not.
[tr. Zetzel (1999)]

Right is uniform; human fellowship has been bound by it, and one law has established it; that law is correct reason in commanding and prohibiting. He who is ignorant of it is unjust, whether it has been written somewhere or nowhere.
[tr. Fott (2013)]

But, we see that Learned men have suche art and cunning to persuade, and such filed wordes to serve their turne: that wrong doth carry the cause away, and Reason cannot prevaile.
[tr. Peterson (1576)]

Men of letters, with their parade of high-flown language, very often make the wrong to prevail and the right to succumb.
[ed. Harbottle (1897)]

We find that learned men, through their grandiose talk, very often manage to have the wrong side win and reason lose.
[tr. Eisenbichler/Bartlett (1986)]

No act of injustice is more pernicious than theirs, who while they are attempting the greatest deceit, labor to appear good men.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]

But in the whole system of villainy, none is more capital than that of the men, who, when they most deceive, so manage as that they may seem to be virtuous men.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

But of all forms of injustice, none is more heinous than that of the men who, while they practise fraud to the utmost of their ability, do it in such a way that they appear to be good men.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

The most criminal injustice is that of the hypocrite who hides an act of treachery under the cloak of virtue.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

No iniquity is more deadly than that of those who, when they are most at fault, so behave as to seem men of integrity.
[ed. Harbottle (1906)]

But of all forms of injustice, none is more flagrant than that of the hypocrite who, at the very moment when he is most false, makes it his business to appear virtuous.
[tr. Miller (1913)]

Taking all forms of injustice into account, none is more deadly than that practiced by people who act as if they are good men when they are being most treacherous.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]

• "Making money is not without its value, but nothing is baser than to make it by wrong-doing." [tr. Bakewell (1907)]
• "To make money is not without use, but if it comes from wrong-doing, nothing is worse." [tr. Freeman (1948)]

The vice that is opposite to justice is injustice, of which there are two sorts: the first consists in the actual doing an injury to another; the second, in tamely looking on while he is injured, and not helping and defending him though we are able: for he that injuriously falls on another, whether prompted by rage or other violent passion, does as it were leap at the throat of his companion; and he that refuses to help him when injured, and to ward off the wrong if it lies in his power, is as plainly guilty of baseness and and injustice as though he had deserted his father, his friends, or his native country.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]

There are two kinds of injustice: Of the one, they are guilty who do an injury; of the other, they who, if they are able, do not defend those from injury to whom it is offered. For he who urged on by anger, or some violent passion, attempts to injure any man, lifts his hand against his brother' and he who interferes not to resist or repel the attempt, is as guilty as if he had deserted his parents, his friends, or his country.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]

But there are two kinds of injustice; the first of those who offer an injury, the second of those who have in their power to avert an injury from those to whom it is offered, and yet do it not. For if a man, prompted either by anger or any sudden perturbation, unjustly assaults another man, such a one seems as it were to lay violent hands on one's ally; and the man who does not repel or withstand the injury, if he can, is as much to blame as if he deserted the cause of his parents, his friends, or his country.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]

Of injustice there are two kinds, -- one, that of those who inflict injury; the other, that of those who do not, if they can, repel injury from those on whom it is inflicted. Moreover, he who, moved by anger or by some disturbance of mind, makes an unjust assault on any person, is as one who lays violent hands on a casual companion; while he who does not, if he can, ward off or resist the injury offered to another, is as much in fault as if he were to desert his parents, or his friends, or his country.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]

There are two kinds of injustice: the positive injustice of the aggressor, and the negative injustice of neglecting to defend those who are wronged. To attack a man unjustly under the influence of anger or some other passion is to lay hands upon a comrade; not to defend the oppressed and shield them from injustice, is as great a crime as to desert our parents, friends, or country.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]

There are two classifications of injustice. One part includes those who act unjustly. The other part includes men who, even if they have the power to do so, fail to protect from abuse those people against whom other men commit violence. The man who unjustly does harm to someone else, either in anger or because some other passion arounds him, acts as if he were striking a companion. But the man who does not avert an act of violence, or offer resistance if he has the power, is just as much at fault as if he betrayed his parents, or friends, or his fatherland.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]

But another great spring from which injuries arise, is some quirk or cavil, and an oversubtle and malicious interpretation of the laws; from whence that saying, "The height of justice is the height of roguery," is now become a daily and common proverb among us.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]




Injustice is often done by artful evasions, and from a too shrewd, but malicious interpretation of the laws. Hence the proverb, "the strictest justice is the greatest injury," has become quite familiar in conversation.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]




Very often wrongs arise through a quirk, and through a too artful but fraudulent construction of the law. Hence, "the rigour of law is the rigour of injustice," is a saying that has now passed into a proverb.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]




There are, also, wrongs committed by a sort of chicanery, which consists in a too subtle, and thus fraudulent, interpretation of the right. Hence comes the saying: The extreme of right is the extreme of wrong.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]




A common form of injustice is chicanery, that is, an over-subtle, in fact a fraudulent construction of the law. Hence the hackneyed proverb: "The greatest right is the greatest wrong."
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]




A perversion of justice, some extremely clever but harmful interpretation of a statute, also is a frequent cause of wrongdoing. Hence we have the saying, "Extreme legality is the worst law," a proverb become a cliche by daily use.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]


See Terence. ]]> https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/43876/feed/ 0 43876 https://wist.info/jay-john/43373/ https://wist.info/jay-john/43373/#respond Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:29:20 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43373 That men should pray and fight for their own freedom, and yet keep others in slavery, is certainly acting a very inconsistent, as well as unjust and, perhaps, impious part, but the history of mankind is filled with instances of human improprieties.

John Jay (1745–1829) American statesman, diplomat, abolitionist, politician, Chief Justice (1789–1795)
Letter to Rev. Doctor Price (27 Sep 1785)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/jay-john/43373/feed/ 0 43373 https://wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/43275/ https://wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/43275/#comments Wed, 16 Sep 2020 19:21:50 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=43275 We are the most unfair, not towards him whom we do not like, but toward him for whom we feel nothing at all.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German philosopher and poet
Thus Spoke Zarathustra [Also Sprach Zarathustra], Part 2, “Of the Compassionate [Von den Mitleidigen]” (1892) [tr. Hollingdale (1961)]
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/nietzsche-friedrich/43275/feed/ 3 43275 https://wist.info/nash-ogden/42680/ https://wist.info/nash-ogden/42680/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2020 14:48:13 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42680 I find it very difficult to enthuse

Over the current news.

Just when you think that at least the outlook is so black that it can grow no blacker, it worsens,

And that is why I do not like the news, because there has never been an era when so many things were going so right for so many of the wrong persons.


Ogden Nash (1902–1971) American poet
“Everybody Tells Me Everything,” The Face Is Familiar (1940)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/nash-ogden/42680/feed/ 0 42680 https://wist.info/thomas-aquinas-saint/42018/ https://wist.info/thomas-aquinas-saint/42018/#respond Tue, 09 Jun 2020 19:24:36 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=42018 Now the abuse of authority can be of two kinds. First, when what is commanded by the ruler is contrary to the purpose for which the ruler was appointed: for example, if some sinful act is commanded contrary to the virtue which the ruler is ordained to foster and preserve. In this case, not only is one not bound to obey the ruler, but one is bound not to obey him, as in the case of the holy martyrs who suffered death rather than obey the ungodly commands of tyrants.

Second, when what is demanded goes beyond what the order of authority can require: if, for example, a master were to exact a payment which a servant is not bound to give, or something of the kind. In this case the subject is not bound to obey; nor, however, is he bound not to obey.


Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian friar, philosopher, theologian
Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard [Scriptum super libros Sententiarium], Book 2, dist. 44, quest. 2, art. 2 (1252-56) [tr. Dyson (2002)]
    (Source)

Alt. trans. [Dawson]:

With regard to the abuse of authority, this also may come about in two ways. First, when what is ordered by an authority is opposed to the object for which that authority was constituted (if, for example, some sinful action is commanded or one which is contrary to virtue, when it is precisely for the protection and fostering of virtue that authority is instituted). In such a case, not only is there no obligation to obey the authority, but one is obliged to disobey it, as did the holy martyrs who suffered death rather than obey the impious commands of tyrants.

Secondly, when those who bear such authority command things which exceed the competence of such authority; as, for example, when a master demands payment from a servant which the latter is not bound to make, and other similar cases. In this instance the subject is free to obey or disobey.

]]> https://wist.info/thomas-aquinas-saint/42018/feed/ 0 42018 https://wist.info/moliere/41828/ https://wist.info/moliere/41828/#respond Sat, 23 May 2020 22:34:15 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=41828 PHILINTE: And if goodness were found on every side,
If all men’s hearts were docile, frank, and just,
Most of our virtues would but gather rust,
Since they can serve to help us calmly bear
The injustices that face us everywhere.

[Et si de probité tout était revêtu,
Si tous les cœurs étaient francs, justes, et dociles,
La plupart des vertus nous seraient inutiles,
Puisqu’on en met l’usage à pouvoir sans ennui
Supporter, dans nos droits, l’injustice d’autrui.]


Molière (1622–1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
Le Misanthrope, Act 5, sc. 1, ll. 1564ff (1666) [tr. Frame (1967)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:



If probity reigned everywhere, if all hearts were candid, just, and tractable, most of our virtues would be useless to us, inasmuch as their functions are to bear, without annoyance, the injustices of others in our good cause.
[tr. Van Laun (1878)]




If everything were clothed with integrity, and all hearts were frank, just, and docile, most of our virtue would be useless, since we can only use them in bearing the injustice of others in respect to our rights.
[tr. Mathew (1890)]




If everyone were clothed with integrity,
If every heart were just, frank, kindly,
The other virtues would be well-nigh useless,
Since their chief purpose is to make us bear with patience
The injustice of our fellows.
[tr. Wormeley (1894)]




If probity reigned everywhere, if all hearts were open, just and tractable, most of our virtues would be useless to us, for their office is to bear, without annoyance, the injustice of others when we have justice on our side.
[tr. Waller (1903)]




If everything were clothed in probity,
If all men's hearts were open, just, gentle,
Most of our virtues would be wholly useless,
Since we employ them now, in cheerfully
Enduring wrong, with right on our side.
[tr. Page (1913)]




If honesty shone forth from all men's eyes,
If every heart were frank and kind and just,
What could our virtues do but gather dust
(Since their employment is to help us bear
The villainies of men without despair)?
[tr. Wilbur (1954)]




If truth and rectitude were universal,
If every heart were frank and reasonable,
Most of the virtues would be meaningless,
Because they enable us to bear serenely
The injustice of others, when our cause is just.
[tr. Bishop (1957)]


]]> https://wist.info/moliere/41828/feed/ 0 41828 https://wist.info/bible-ot/40740/ https://wist.info/bible-ot/40740/#respond Tue, 18 Feb 2020 18:17:13 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40740 You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant. I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the smart thing to do! Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is.

לָ֠כֵ֠ן יַ֣עַן בּוֹשַׁסְכֶ֞ם עַל־דָּ֗ל וּמַשְׂאַת־בַּר֙ תִּקְח֣וּ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ בָּתֵּ֥י גָזִ֛ית בְּנִיתֶ֖ם וְלֹא־תֵ֣שְׁבוּ בָ֑ם כַּרְמֵי־חֶ֣מֶד נְטַעְתֶּ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תִשְׁתּ֖וּ אֶת־יֵינָֽם׃
כִּ֤י יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙ רַבִּ֣ים פִּשְׁעֵיכֶ֔ם וַעֲצֻמִ֖ים חַטֹּאתֵיכֶ֑ם צֹרְרֵ֤י צַדִּיק֙ לֹ֣קְחֵי כֹ֔פֶר וְאֶבְיוֹנִ֖ים בַּשַּׁ֥עַר הִטּֽוּ׃
לָכֵ֗ן הַמַּשְׂכִּ֛יל בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖יא יִדֹּ֑ם כִּ֛י עֵ֥ת רָעָ֖ה הִֽיא׃
דִּרְשׁוּ־ט֥וֹב וְאַל־רָ֖ע לְמַ֣עַן תִּֽחְי֑וּ וִיהִי־כֵ֞ן יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵֽי־צְבָא֛וֹת אִתְּכֶ֖ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲמַרְתֶּֽם׃


The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 30. Amos 5:11ff (Amos 5:11-14) [tr. GNT (1976)]
    (Source)

(Source (Hebrew)). Other translations:



Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
[KJV (1611)]




Well then, since you have trampled on the poor man, extorting levies on his wheat -- those houses you have built of dressed stone, you will never live in them; and those precious vineyards you have planted, you will never drink their wine. For I know that your crimes are many, and your sins enormous: persecutors of the virtuous, blackmailers, turning away the needy at the city gate. No wonder the prudent man keeps silent, the times are so evil. Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and that Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, may really be with you as you claim he is.
[JB (1966)]




Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins -- you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said.
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]




Assuredly,
Because you impose a tax on the poor
And exact from them a levy of grain,
You have built houses of hewn stone,
But you shall not live in them;
You have planted delightful vineyards,
But shall not drink their wine.
For I have noted how many are your crimes,
And how countless your sins --
You enemies of the righteous,
You takers of bribes,
You who subvert in the gate
The cause of the needy!
Assuredly,
At such a time the prudent keep silent,
For it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil,
That you may live,
And that the ETERNAL, the God of Hosts,
May truly be with you,
As you think.
[RJPS (2006)]


]]> https://wist.info/bible-ot/40740/feed/ 0 40740 https://wist.info/publilius-syrus/40514/ https://wist.info/publilius-syrus/40514/#respond Wed, 05 Feb 2020 21:11:26 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=40514 Acquitting the guilty convicts the judge.

[Iudex damnatur cum nocens absolvitur.]




Publilius Syrus (d. 42 BC) Assyrian slave, writer, philosopher [less correctly Publius Syrus]
Sentences [Sententiae], #296
    (Source)

Motto of the Edinburgh Review. Other translations:
• "When the guilty man is let off, the judge stands condemned."
• "The judge is condemned when the criminal is acquitted." [tr. Lyman (1856), #868]
There were multiple collections made of Publilius Syrus' Sententiae in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. This appears in all of them, but often with different line/sentence numbers, incl. #256 and #257. ]]> https://wist.info/publilius-syrus/40514/feed/ 0 40514 https://wist.info/hugo-victor/39699/ https://wist.info/hugo-victor/39699/#respond Wed, 18 Sep 2019 23:33:49 +0000 Dave https://wist.info/?p=39699 So long as there shall exist, by virtue of law and custom, decrees of damnation pronounced by society, artificially creating hells amid the civilization of earth, and adding the element of human fate to divine destiny; so long as the three great problems of the century — the degradation of man through pauperism, the corruption of woman through hunger, the crippling of children through lack of light — are unsolved; so long as social asphyxia is possible in any part of the world; — in other words, and with a still wider significance, so long as ignorance and poverty exist on earth, books of the nature of Les Misérables cannot fail to be of use.

[Tant qu’il existera, par le fait des lois et des mœurs, une damnation sociale créant artificiellement, en pleine civilisation, des enfers, et compliquant d’une fatalité humaine la destinée qui est divine; tant que les trois problèmes du siècle, la dégradation de l’homme par le prolétariat, la déchéance de la femme par la faim, l’atrophie de l’enfant par la nuit, ne seront pas résolus; tant que, dans de certaines régions, l’asphyxie sociale sera possible; en d’autres termes, et à un point de vue plus étendu encore, tant qu’il y aura sur la terre ignorance et misère, des livres de la nature de celui-ci pourront ne pas être inutiles.]


Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French writer, journalist, human rights activist, politician
Les Misérables, Preface (1862) [tr. Hapgood (1887)]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Other translations:



So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age -- the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night -- are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible ; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless.
[tr. Wilbour (1862)]




As long as there shall exist, as a consequence of laws and customs, a social damnation artificially creating hells in the midst of civilization, and complicating the destiny which is divine with a fatality which is human; as long as the three problems of the age -- the degradation of man by the proletariat, the ruin of woman by hunger, the atrophy of the child by the night—are not solved; as long as in certain regions social asphyxia shall be possible; in other terms, and from a still more extended point of view, as long as there shall be on the earth ignorance and wretchedness, books of the nature of this one cannot be useless.
[tr. Wraxall (1862)]




While through the working of laws and customs there continues to exist a condition of social condemnation which artificially creates a human hell within civilization, and complicates with human fatality a destiny that is divine; while the three great problems of this century, the degradation of man in the proletariat, the subjection of women through hunger, the atrophy of the child by darkness, continue unresolved; while in some regions social asphyxia remains possible; in other words, and in still wider terms, while ignorance and poverty persist on earth, books such as this cannot fail to be of value.
[tr. Denny (1976)]




So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation which, in the midst of civilization, artificially creates a hell on earth, and complicates with human fatality a destiny that is divine; so long as the three problems of the century -- the degradation of man by the exploitation of his labor, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the atrophy of childhood by physical and spiritual night -- are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and, from a still broader point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, there should be a need for books such as this.
[tr. Wilbour/Fahnestock/MacAfee (1987)]




As long as through the workings of laws and customs there exists a. damnation-by-society artificially creating hells int he very midst of civilization and complicating destiny, which is divine, with a man-made fate; as long as the three problems of the age are not resolved: the debasement of of men through proletarianization, the moral degradation of women through hunger, and the blighting of children by keeping them in darkness; as long as in certain strata social suffocation is possible; in other words and from an even broader perspective, as long as there are ignorance and poverty on earth, books of this kind may serve some purpose.
[tr. Donougher (2013)]


]]> https://wist.info/hugo-victor/39699/feed/ 0 39699 https://wist.info/bible-ot/38909/ https://wist.info/bible-ot/38909/#respond Fri, 26 Oct 2018 18:29:43 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38909 Doom for the man who founds his palace on anything but integrity, his upstairs rooms on anything but honesty, who makes his fellow man work for nothing, without paying him his wages, who says, “I will build myself an imposing palace with spacious rooms upstairs”, who pierces lights in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it vermilion.
Are you more of a king for outrivalling others with cedar?
Your father ate and drank, like you, but he practised honesty and integrity, so all went well for him. He used to examine the cases of poor and needy, then all went well. Is not that what it means to know me? – it is Yahweh who speaks.
You on the other hand have eyes and heart for nothing but your own interests, for shedding innocent blood and perpetrating violence and oppression.

ה֣וֹי בֹּנֶ֤ה בֵיתוֹ֙ בְּֽלֹא־צֶ֔דֶק וַעֲלִיּוֹתָ֖יו בְּלֹ֣א מִשְׁפָּ֑ט בְּרֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ יַעֲבֹ֣ד חִנָּ֔ם וּפֹעֲל֖וֹ לֹ֥א יִתֶּן־לֽוֹ׃
הָאֹמֵ֗ר אֶבְנֶה־לִּי֙ בֵּ֣ית מִדּ֔וֹת וַעֲלִיּ֖וֹת מְרֻוָּחִ֑ים וְקָ֤רַֽע לוֹ֙ חַלּוֹנָ֔י וְסָפ֣וּן בָּאָ֔רֶז וּמָשׁ֖וֹחַ בַּשָּׁשַֽׁר׃
הֲתִֽמְלֹ֔ךְ כִּ֥י אַתָּ֖ה מְתַחֲרֶ֣ה בָאָ֑רֶז אָבִ֜יךָ הֲל֧וֹא אָכַ֣ל וְשָׁתָ֗ה וְעָשָׂ֤ה מִשְׁפָּט֙ וּצְדָקָ֔ה אָ֖ז ט֥וֹב לֽוֹ׃
דָּ֛ן דִּין־עָנִ֥י וְאֶבְי֖וֹן אָ֣ז ט֑וֹב הֲלוֹא־הִ֛יא הַדַּ֥עַת אֹתִ֖י נְאֻם־יְהֹוָֽה׃
כִּ֣י אֵ֤ין עֵינֶ֙יךָ֙ וְלִבְּךָ֔ כִּ֖י אִם־עַל־בִּצְעֶ֑ךָ וְעַ֤ל דַּֽם־הַנָּקִי֙ לִשְׁפּ֔וֹךְ וְעַל־הָעֹ֥שֶׁק וְעַל־הַמְּרוּצָ֖ה לַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃ {ס} 


The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 24. Jeremiah 22:13ff (Jer 22:13-17) [tr. JB (1966)]
    (Source)

Speaking out against Jehoiakim, the King of Judah.

(Source (Hebrew)). Other translations:



Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar?
Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord.
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
[KJV (1611)]




Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice
and enlarges it by dishonesty;
who makes his people work for nothing
and does not pay their wages.
Doomed is the one who says,
“I will build myself a mansion
with spacious rooms upstairs.”
So he puts windows in his house,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it red.
Does it make you a better king
if you build houses of cedar,
finer than those of others?
Your father enjoyed a full life.
He was always just and fair,
and he prospered in everything he did.
He gave the poor a fair trial,
and all went well with him.
That is what it means to know the Lord.
But you can only see your selfish interests;
you kill the innocent
and violently oppress your people.
The Lord has spoken.
[GNT (1976)]




Disaster for the man who builds his house without uprightness, his upstairs rooms without fair judgement, who makes his fellow-man work for nothing, without paying him his wages, who says, "I shall build myself a spacious palace with airy upstairs rooms," who makes windows in it, panels it with cedar, and paints it vermilion.
Are you more of a king because of your passion for cedar? Did your father go hungry or thirsty? But he did what is just and upright, so all went well for him. He used to examine the cases of poor and needy, then all went well. Is not that what it means to know me? Yahweh demands.
You on the other hand have eyes and heart for nothing but your own interests, for shedding innocent blood and perpetrating violence and oppression.
[NJB (1985)]




Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness
and his upper rooms by injustice,
who makes his neighbors work for nothing
and does not give them their wages,
who says, “I will build myself a spacious house
with large upper rooms,”
and who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and painting it with vermilion.
Are you a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness?
Then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.
Is not this to know me?
says the Lord.
But your eyes and heart
are only on your dishonest gain,
for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]




Ha! He who builds his house with unfairness
And his upper chambers with injustice,
Who makes his neighbors work without pay
And does not give them their wages,
Who thinks: I will build me a vast palace
With spacious upper chambers,
Provided with windows,
Paneled in cedar,
Painted with vermilion!
Do you think you are more a king
Because you compete in cedar?
Your father ate and drank
And dispensed justice and equity --
Then all went well with him.
He upheld the rights of the poor and needy --
Then all was well.
That is truly heeding Me
-- declares GOD.
But your eyes and your mind are only
On ill-gotten gains,
On shedding the blood of the innocent,
On committing fraud and violence.
[RJPS (2023 ed.)]


]]> https://wist.info/bible-ot/38909/feed/ 0 38909 https://wist.info/bonhoeffer-dietrich/38371/ https://wist.info/bonhoeffer-dietrich/38371/#respond Mon, 08 Jan 2018 23:02:27 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38371 There are three possible ways in which the church can act toward the state: in the first place, as has been said, it can ask the state whether its actions are legitimate and in accordance with its character as state, i.e., it can throw the state back on its responsibilities. Secondly, it can aid the victims of state action. The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community. “Do good to all men.” In both these course of action, the church serves the free state in its free way, and at times when laws are changed the church may in no way withdraw itself from these two tasks.

The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself. Such action would be direct political action, and is only possible and required when the church sees the state fail in its function of creating law and order, i.e., when it sees the state unrestrainedly bring about too much or too little law and order.


Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, martyr
“The Church and the Jewish Question” (1933)
    (Source)

On the need for Christian clergy to actively oppose the Nazi regime's persecution of Jews. ]]> https://wist.info/bonhoeffer-dietrich/38371/feed/ 0 38371 https://wist.info/godwin-william/38070/ https://wist.info/godwin-william/38070/#respond Tue, 17 Oct 2017 01:00:16 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=38070 Government was intended to suppress injustice, but it offers new occasions and temptations for the commission of it.

William Godwin (1756–1836) English journalist, political philosopher, novelist
Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, “Summary of Principles” 2.4 (1793)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/godwin-william/38070/feed/ 0 38070 https://wist.info/la-follette-suzanne/36710/ https://wist.info/la-follette-suzanne/36710/#respond Mon, 10 Apr 2017 17:32:16 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36710 People never move towards revolution; they are pushed towards it by intolerable injustices in the economic and social order under which they live.

Suzanne La Follette (1893–1983) American journalist, author, feminist
(Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/la-follette-suzanne/36710/feed/ 0 36710 https://wist.info/kushner-harold-s/36445/ https://wist.info/kushner-harold-s/36445/#respond Sat, 04 Mar 2017 01:20:27 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36445 There is only one question which really matters: why do bad things happen to good people?




Harold S. Kushner (b. 1935) American author, rabbi
When Bad Things Happen to Good People, ch. 1 (1981) ]]> https://wist.info/kushner-harold-s/36445/feed/ 0 36445 https://wist.info/la-follette-suzanne/36328/ https://wist.info/la-follette-suzanne/36328/#respond Mon, 20 Feb 2017 20:08:37 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=36328 When once a social order is well established, no matter what injustice it involves, those who occupy a position of advantage are not long in coming to believe that it is the only possible and reasonable order.

Suzanne La Follette (1893–1983) American journalist, author, feminist
(Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/la-follette-suzanne/36328/feed/ 0 36328 https://wist.info/jones-mother/35494/ https://wist.info/jones-mother/35494/#respond Sat, 29 Oct 2016 04:53:43 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=35494 I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator.




Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1860–1930) American labor leader [a.k.a. Mother Jones]
Speech (1903), in The Autobiography of Mother Jones, ch. 10 (1925) ]]> https://wist.info/jones-mother/35494/feed/ 0 35494 https://wist.info/mencken-hl/32925/ https://wist.info/mencken-hl/32925/#respond Tue, 08 Mar 2016 14:38:47 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=32925 The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true desserts. He ascribes all his failure to get on in the world, all of his congenital incapacity and damnfoolishness, to the machinations of werewolves assembled in Wall Street, or some other such den of infamy. If these villains could be put down, he holds, he would at once become rich, powerful and eminent. Nine politicians out of every ten, of whatever party, live and have their being by promising to perform
this putting down. In brief, they are knaves who maintain themselves by preying on the idiotic vanities and pathetic hopes of half-wits.

H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
Baltimore Evening Sun (15 Jun 1936) ]]> https://wist.info/mencken-hl/32925/feed/ 0 32925 https://wist.info/hoffer-eric/31573/ https://wist.info/hoffer-eric/31573/#respond Tue, 24 Nov 2015 15:17:51 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=31573 That hatred springs more from self-contempt than from a legitimate grievance is seen in the intimate connection between hatred and a guilty conscience. There is perhaps no surer way of infecting ourselves with virulent hatred toward a person than by doing him a grave injustice. That others have a just grievance against us is a more potent reason for hating them than that we have a just grievance against them.

Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 69 (3.14.69) (1951)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/hoffer-eric/31573/feed/ 0 31573 https://wist.info/douglass-frederick/30630/ https://wist.info/douglass-frederick/30630/#respond Thu, 10 Sep 2015 15:20:27 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=30630 Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
Speech (1857-08-04) on West India Emancipation, Ontario County Agricultural Society fairgrounds, Canandaigua, New York
    (Source)

Commemorating the anniversary of the emancipation of British West Indian slaves in 1834. ]]> https://wist.info/douglass-frederick/30630/feed/ 0 30630 https://wist.info/george-henry/28826/ https://wist.info/george-henry/28826/#respond Mon, 30 Mar 2015 12:20:45 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28826 At the bottom of every social problem we will find a social wrong.

Henry George (1839–1897) American economist
Social Problems, ch. 1 (1883) ]]> https://wist.info/george-henry/28826/feed/ 0 28826 https://wist.info/halifax-savile-george/28477/ https://wist.info/halifax-savile-george/28477/#respond Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:01:49 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=28477 Wherever a Knave is not punished, an honest Man is laugh’d at.

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633–1695) English politician and essayist
“Of Punishment,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/halifax-savile-george/28477/feed/ 0 28477 https://wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/27988/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/27988/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:27:02 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=27988 I know that we will be the sufferers if we let great wrongs occur without exerting ourselves to correct them.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”
    (Source)

On the persecution of Jews in Europe. ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/27988/feed/ 0 27988 https://wist.info/marcus-aureleus/25725/ https://wist.info/marcus-aureleus/25725/#respond Fri, 13 Jun 2014 13:07:30 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=25725 A man does not sin by commission only, but often by omission.

[Ἀδικεῖ πολλάκις ὁ μὴ ποιῶν τι, οὐ μόνον ὁ ποιῶν τι.]




Marcus Aurelius (AD 121–180) Roman emperor (161–180), Stoic philosopher
Meditations [To Himself; Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν], Book 9, ch. 5 (9.5) (AD 161-180) [tr. Staniforth (1964)]
    (Source)

(Source (Greek)). Other translations:



Not he only that committeth, but he also that omitteth something, is oftentimes unjust.
[tr. Casaubon (1634), 9.4]




Omissions no less than Commissions, are oftentimes Branches of Injustice.
[tr. Collier (1701)]




Men are often unjust by omissions, as well as by actions.
[tr. Hutcheson/Moor (1742)]




A man is as often guilty of injustice by omitting to do what he ought, as by doing what he ought not to do.
[tr. Graves (1792), 9.4]




He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he who does a certain thing.
[tr. Long (1862)]




Omissions no less than commission are oftentimes part of injustice.
[tr. Collier/Zimmern (1887)]




Wrong comes often of not doing as well as doing.
[tr. Rendall (1898)]




Men are often unjust by omissions as well as by actions.
[tr. Hutcheson/Chrystal (1902)]




There is often an injustice of omission as well as of commission.
[tr. Haines (Loeb) (1916)]




Often he who omits an act does injustice, not only he who commits an act.
[tr. Farquharson (1944)]




A person often acts unjustly by what he fails to do, and not only by what he does.
[tr. Hard (1997 ed., 2011 ed.)]




And you can also commit injustice by doing nothing.
[tr. Hays (2003)]




There can often be wrongs of omission as well as commission.
[tr. Hammond (2006)]




Very often an unjust act is done by not doing something, not only by doing something.
[tr. Needleman/Piazza (2008)]




One may often injure by omission, not only by action.
[ed. Taplin (2016)]


]]> https://wist.info/marcus-aureleus/25725/feed/ 0 25725 https://wist.info/stevenson-robert-louis/22790/ https://wist.info/stevenson-robert-louis/22790/#respond Wed, 30 Oct 2013 13:46:53 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=22790 When the torrent sweeps the man against a boulder, you must expect him to scream, and you need not be surprised if the scream is sometimes a theory. Shelley, chafing at the Church of England, discovered the cure of all evils in universal atheism. Generous lads irritated at the injustices of society, see nothing for it but the abolishment of everything and Kingdom Come of anarchy. Shelley was a young fool; so are these cocksparrow revolutionaries. But it is better to be a fool than to be dead. It is better to emit a scream in the shape of a theory than to be entirely insensible to the jars and incongruities of life and take everything as it comes in a forlorn stupidity.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
    (Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 2 (1881) ]]> https://wist.info/stevenson-robert-louis/22790/feed/ 0 22790 https://wist.info/fairlie-henry/22201/ https://wist.info/fairlie-henry/22201/#respond Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:05:01 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=22201 We live in an age of Wrath. It is to be found in the terrorist, the kidnapper, the hijacker, the looter, and in the clenched fist of the demonstrator. […] When we ask what is their justification, they hardly have to give an answer, because our age finds it for them. They are angry. That is apparently enough. We justify their Wrath, so we justify their violence. If someone thinks that he has cause to be angry, he may act from his Anger as destructively as he sees fit. In fact, we have come close to the point of giving to Wrath an incontestable license to terrorize our society, just as an angry man may terrorize his family, but whereas we do not excuse the husband or the father, we extend our sympathy and understanding to the terrorist.

Henry Fairlie (1924–1990) British journalist and social critic
The Seven Deadly Sins Today (1978) ]]> https://wist.info/fairlie-henry/22201/feed/ 0 22201 https://wist.info/johnson-lyndon/20578/ https://wist.info/johnson-lyndon/20578/#respond Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:36:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=20578 The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963–69)
Speech (1965-08-06), Signing of the Voting Rights Act, Washington, D.C.
    (Source)

(Source (Video) at 15:15) ]]> https://wist.info/johnson-lyndon/20578/feed/ 0 20578 https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/20261/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/20261/#respond Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:13:02 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=20261 Also, friends, in the interest of the working man himself we need to set our faces like flint against mob-violence just as against corporate greed; against violence and injustice and lawlessness by wage-workers just as much as against lawless cunning and greed and selfish arrogance of employers. If I could ask but one thing of my fellow countrymen, my request would be that, whenever they go in for reform, they remember the two sides, and that they always exact justice from one side as much as from the other. I have small use for the public servant who can always see and denounce the corruption of the capitalist, but who cannot persuade himself, especially before elections, to say a word about lawless mob-violence. And I have equally small use for the man, be he a judge on the bench, or editor of a great paper, or wealthy and influential private citizen, who can see clearly enough and denounce the lawlessness of mob-violence, but whose eyes are closed so that he is blind when the question is one of corruption in business on a gigantic scale.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/20261/feed/ 0 20261 https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/19869/ https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/19869/#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:13:10 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=19869 HENRY: What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted?
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,
And he but naked, though locked up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Henry VI, Part 2, Act 3, sc. 2, l. 240ff (3.2.240-243) (1591)
    (Source)

See Ward. ]]> https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/19869/feed/ 2 19869 https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/19146/ https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/19146/#respond Thu, 27 Sep 2012 12:53:55 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=19146 Still, I do not mean to find fault with the accumulation of property, provided it hurts nobody, but unjust acquisition of it is always to be avoided.

[Nec vero rei familiaris amplificatio nemini nocens vituperanda est, sed fugienda semper iniuria est.]


Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Officiis [On Duties; On Moral Duty; The Offices], Book 1, ch. 8 (1.8) / sec. 25 (44 BC) [tr. Miller (1913)]
    (Source)

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:



Not but that a moderate desire of riches, and bettering a man's estate, so long as it abstains from oppressing of others, is allowable enough; but a very great care ought always to be taken that we be not drawn to any injustice by it.
[tr. Cockman (1699)]




The enlargement of fortune is blameless, while no man suffers by its increase; but injury is forever to be avoided.
[tr. McCartney (1798)]




Nor indeed is the mere desire to improve one's private fortune, without injury to another, deserving of blame; but injustice must ever be avoided.
[tr. Edmonds (1865)]




Nor, indeed, is the increase of property, without harm to any one, to be blamed; but wrong-doing for the sake of gain is never to be tolerated.
[tr. Peabody (1883)]




Not that we have any fault to find with the innocent accumulation of property; it is the unjust acquisition of it of which we must beware.
[tr. Gardiner (1899)]




Of course, no one should criticize an increase in a family's estate that harms no one else, but it should never involve breaking the law.
[tr. Edinger (1974)]


]]> https://wist.info/cicero-marcus-tullius/19146/feed/ 0 19146 https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/17268/ https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/17268/#respond Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:13:12 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=17268 What is blasphemy? I will give you a definition; I will give you my thought upon this subject. What is real blasphemy?
To live on the unpaid labor of other men — that is blasphemy.
To enslave your fellow-man, to put chains upon his body — that is blasphemy.
To enslave the minds of men, to put manacles upon the brain, padlocks upon the lips — that is blasphemy.
To deny what you believe to be true, to admit to be true what you believe to be a lie — that is blasphemy.
To strike the weak and unprotected, in order that you may gain the applause of the ignorant and superstitious mob — that is blasphemy.
To persecute the intelligent few, at the command of the ignorant many — that is blasphemy.
To forge chains, to build dungeons, for your honest fellow-men — that is blasphemy.
To pollute the souls of children with the dogma of eternal pain — that is blasphemy.
To violate your conscience — that is blasphemy.
The jury that gives an unjust verdict, and the judge who pronounces an unjust sentence, are blasphemers.
The man who bows to public opinion against his better judgment and against his honest conviction, is a blasphemer.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Trial of C.B. Reynolds for blasphemy (May 1887)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/17268/feed/ 0 17268 https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/16874/ https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/16874/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:09:48 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16874 Men are not superior by reason of the accidents of race or color. They are superior who have the best heart — the best brain. Superiority is born of honesty, of virtue, of charity, and above all, of the love of liberty. The superior man is the providence of the inferior. He is eyes for the blind, strength for the weak, and a shield for the defenseless. He stands erect by bending above the fallen. He rises by lifting others.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Speech (1883-10-22), “Liberty,” Address on the Civil Rights Act, Lincoln Hall, Washington, D. C.
    (Source)

Discussing the US Supreme Court's striking down of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. ]]> https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/16874/feed/ 0 16874 https://wist.info/jackson-robert-h/16723/ https://wist.info/jackson-robert-h/16723/#respond Fri, 30 Dec 2011 06:17:44 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16723 The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask as justice.

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941–54), lawyer, jurist, politician
Krulewitch v. United States, 336 U.S. 440, 458 (1949) [concurring]
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/jackson-robert-h/16723/feed/ 0 16723 https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/16549/ https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/16549/#respond Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:09:36 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16549 To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber. Religion reminds every man that he is his brother’s keeper. To accept injustice or segregation passively is to say to the oppressor that his actions are morally right. It is a way of allowing his conscience to fall asleep. At this moment the oppressed fails to be his brother’s keeper. So acquiescence — while often the easier way — is not the moral way. It is the way of the coward.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/16549/feed/ 0 16549 https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/16481/ https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/16481/#respond Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:22:51 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16481 If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth, — certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
    (Source)

Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum. ]]> https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/16481/feed/ 0 16481 https://wist.info/ivins-molly/16299/ https://wist.info/ivins-molly/16299/#respond Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:29:12 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16299 As a now-forgotten Sunday-morning chatter announced in horror: “This could cause people to think that the rich can buy their way out of the justice system.”
No shit.
Been going to Texas prisons for a long time. Seen nobody rich on Death Row yet. You mean money has something to do with justice in this country?

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (2001-04), “Wake Me When We’re Equal,” The Progressive, Vol. 65, No. 4
    (Source)

A shortened form (which is more widely quoted) was given in a Progressive memorial article for Ivins:



Sunday-morning chatter announced in horror: "People may think the rich can buy their way out of the justice system." No shit. Been going to Texas prisons for a long time. Seen nobody rich on Death Row yet. You mean MONEY has something to do with justice in this country?

]]> https://wist.info/ivins-molly/16299/feed/ 0 16299 https://wist.info/tutu-desmond/16082/ https://wist.info/tutu-desmond/16082/#respond Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:25:16 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=16082 If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

Desmond Tutu (1931–2021) South African cleric, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Nobel Laureate
(Attributed) ]]> https://wist.info/tutu-desmond/16082/feed/ 0 16082 https://wist.info/pascal-blaise/14707/ https://wist.info/pascal-blaise/14707/#respond Mon, 23 May 2011 06:58:20 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=14707 Justice without might is helpless; might without justice is tyrannical.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French scientist and philosopher
Pensées, #298 (1670) [tr. Trotter (1931)] ]]> https://wist.info/pascal-blaise/14707/feed/ 0 14707 https://wist.info/bible-ot/14419/ https://wist.info/bible-ot/14419/#respond Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:26:51 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=14419 Woe to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,
to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches?
Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives
or fall among the slain.

ה֥וֹי הַחֹֽקְקִ֖ים חִקְקֵי־אָ֑וֶן וּֽמְכַתְּבִ֥ים עָמָ֖ל כִּתֵּֽבוּ׃
לְהַטּ֤וֹת מִדִּין֙ דַּלִּ֔ים וְלִגְזֹ֕ל מִשְׁפַּ֖ט עֲנִיֵּ֣י עַמִּ֑י לִֽהְי֤וֹת אַלְמָנוֹת֙ שְׁלָלָ֔ם וְאֶת־יְתוֹמִ֖ים יָבֹֽזּוּ׃
וּמַֽה־תַּעֲשׂוּ֙ לְי֣וֹם פְּקֻדָּ֔ה וּלְשׁוֹאָ֖ה מִמֶּרְחָ֣ק תָּב֑וֹא עַל־מִי֙ תָּנ֣וּסוּ לְעֶזְרָ֔ה וְאָ֥נָה תַעַזְב֖וּ כְּבוֹדְכֶֽם׃
בִּלְתִּ֤י כָרַע֙ תַּ֣חַת אַסִּ֔יר וְתַ֥חַת הֲרוּגִ֖ים יִפֹּ֑לוּ


The Bible (The Old Testament) (14th - 2nd C BC) Judeo-Christian sacred scripture [Tanakh, Hebrew Bible], incl. the Apocrypha (Deuterocanonicals)
Book 23. Isaiah 10: 1ff (Isa 10:1-3) [tr. NIV (2011 ed.)]
    (Source)

(Source (Hebrew)). Other translations:



Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain.
[KJV (1611)]




You are doomed! You make unjust laws that oppress my people. That is how you keep the poor from having their rights and from getting justice. That is how you take the property that belongs to widows and orphans. What will you do when God punishes you? What will you do when he brings disaster on you from a distant country? Where will you run to find help? Where will you hide your wealth? You will be killed in battle or dragged off as prisoners.
[GNT (1976)]




Woe to those who enact unjust decrees, who compose oppressive legislation to deny justice to the weak and to cheat the humblest of my people of fair judgement, to make widows their prey and to rob the orphan. What will you do on the day of punishment, when disaster comes from far away? To whom will you run for help and where will you leave your riches, to avoid squatting among the captives or falling among the slain?
[NJB (1985)]




Ha! Those who write out evil writs and compose iniquitous documents, to subvert the cause of the poor, to rob of their rights the needy of My people; that widows may be their spoil, and fatherless children their booty! What will you do on the day of punishment, When the calamity comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help, And how will you save your carcasses from collapsing under [fellow] prisoners, from falling beneath the slain?
[JPS (1985); 10:1-4a]




Woe to those who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, to make widows their spoil and to plunder orphans! What will you do on the day of punishment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth, so as not to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain?
[NRSV (1989 ed.)]


]]> https://wist.info/bible-ot/14419/feed/ 0 14419 https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/14026/ https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/14026/#respond Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:50:06 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=14026 There is but one blasphemy, and that is injustice.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture, Chicago (20 Sep 1880) ]]> https://wist.info/ingersoll-robert-green/14026/feed/ 0 14026 https://wist.info/adams-john/12456/ https://wist.info/adams-john/12456/#respond Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:20:03 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=12456 As the Happiness of the People is the sole End of Government, So the Consent of the People is the only Foundation of it, in Reason, Morality, and the natural Fitness of things: and therefore every Act of Government, every Exercise of Sovereignty, against, or without, the Consent of the People, is Injustice, Usurpation, and Tyranny.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
“A Proclamation by the General Court of Massachusetts” (1776-01-19)
    (Source)

The document was begun by the House on 1775-12-18 to outline reasons why judicial officers appointed by the Council ought to be accepted by counties (more background here). The proclamation was approved by the House on 1776-01-23, and printed in the Boston Gazette on 1776-02-12.

In Adams' manuscript of the document it reads, "As the Happiness of the People alone." ]]> https://wist.info/adams-john/12456/feed/ 0 12456 https://wist.info/hobbes-thomas/12391/ https://wist.info/hobbes-thomas/12391/#respond Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:10:32 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=12391 To this war of every man against every man, this also is consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law; where no law, no injustice. Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) English philosopher
Leviathan, Part 1, ch. 13 (1651)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/hobbes-thomas/12391/feed/ 0 12391 https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/12301/ https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/12301/#respond Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:14:18 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=12301 Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
    (Source)

Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum. ]]> https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/12301/feed/ 0 12301 https://wist.info/terence/11997/ https://wist.info/terence/11997/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:52:37 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=11997 Extreme law is often extreme injustice.

[Ius summum saepe summa malitia est.]


Terence (186?-159 BC) African-Roman dramatist [Publius Terentius Afer]
Heauton Timoroumenos [The Self-Tormentor], Act 4, sc. 5, l. 48 (l. 796)

Other translations:
• "The highest law is often the greatest wrong."
• "Extreme justice is often extreme malice."
• "Rigorous law is often rigorous injustice."
]]> https://wist.info/terence/11997/feed/ 1 11997 https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/7764/ https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/7764/#respond Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:05:29 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/?p=7764 Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/7764/feed/ 0 7764 https://wist.info/bok-derek/6357/ https://wist.info/bok-derek/6357/#respond Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:23:14 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6357 There is far too much law for those who can afford it and far too little for those who cannot.

Derek Bok (b. 1930) American lawyer, educator
Report to Harvard Board of Overseers (21 Apr 1983) ]]> https://wist.info/bok-derek/6357/feed/ 0 6357 https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/6050/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/6050/#respond Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:25:42 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6050 I abhor unjust war. I abhor injustice and bullying by the strong at the expense of the weak, whether among nations or individuals. I abhor violence and bloodshed. I believe that war should never be resorted to when, or so long as, it is honorably possible to avoid it. I respect all men and women who from high motives and with sanity and self-respect do all they can to avert war. I advocate preparation for war in order to avert war; and I should never advocate war unless it were the only alternative to dishonor.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Autobiography, ch. 7 “The War of America the Unready” (1913)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/6050/feed/ 0 6050 https://wist.info/santayana-george/6025/ https://wist.info/santayana-george/6025/#respond Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:19:13 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=6025 Injustice in this world is not something comparative; the wrong is deep, clear, and absolute in each private fate.

George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, vol. 2 “Reason in Society,” ch. 4 “The Aristocratic Ideal” (1905-06) ]]> https://wist.info/santayana-george/6025/feed/ 0 6025 https://wist.info/burke-edmund/5457/ https://wist.info/burke-edmund/5457/#respond Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:29:40 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=5457 Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; and any eminent departure from it, under any circumstances, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all.

Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Anglo-Irish statesman, orator, philosopher
“Reflections on the Revolution in France” (1790)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/burke-edmund/5457/feed/ 0 5457 https://wist.info/dostoyevsky-fyodor/5222/ https://wist.info/dostoyevsky-fyodor/5222/#respond Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:57:11 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=5222 “Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature — that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance — and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth.”
“No, I wouldn’t consent,” said Alyosha softly.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821–1881) Russian novelist
The Brothers Karamazov, Part 2, book 5, ch. 4 [Ivan] (1880) [tr. Garnett (1912)] ]]> https://wist.info/dostoyevsky-fyodor/5222/feed/ 0 5222 https://wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-delano/5134/ https://wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-delano/5134/#respond Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:41:07 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=5134 We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Letter (1940-01-09) to William Allan Neilson
    (Source)

Neilson was the co-chair of the Sponsor Committee, Fourth Annual Conference of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign-Born. It was read to the conference on 1940-03-01, and entered into the Congressional Record (along with other letters received) on 1940-03-11.

Just over two years later, 1942-02-19, FDR signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the evacuation of all persons (which largely meant Japanese-Americans) deemed a national security threat from the West Coast to internment centers further inland. The EO was in effect until rescinded by Roosevelt in 1944-12 after the Supreme Court ruling in Ex parte Endo. ]]> https://wist.info/roosevelt-franklin-delano/5134/feed/ 0 5134 https://wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-francois/2375/ https://wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-francois/2375/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 18:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=2375 In most men love of justice is only fear of suffering injustice.

[L’amour de la justice n’est en la plupart des hommes que la crainte de souffrir l’injustice.]


François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶78 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]
    (Source)

This is thought to be a summary of the two maxims given at the bottom. When first recorded by La Rochefoucauld, it also lacked the qualifier "in most men [en la plupart des hommes]."

(Source (French)). Other translations:



In the greatest part of men, [the Love of Justice] is only a fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶39]




What the Generality of People call the Love of Justice, is only the Fear of suffering by Injustice.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶79]




The love of justice in most men, is the fear of suffering by injustice.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶264]




The love of Justice, in most men, is the fear of suffering by injustice.
[ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶75]




The love of justice often means no more than the fear of suffering by injustice.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶452]




Love of justice in the generality of men is only the fear of suffering from injustice.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶84]




The love of justice is simply in the majority of men the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Bund/Friswell (1871), ¶78]




In most men love of justice is but the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶78]




Love of justice is in most cases merely fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Stevens (1939), ¶78]




For most men the love of justice is only the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶78]




Love of justice, in most men, is only a fear of encountering injustice.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶78]




Love of justice in most men is merely the fear of suffering injustice.
[tr. Whichello (2016), ¶78]


La Rochefoucauld seems to have distilled the following two maxims down into what became ¶78 in later editions:

¶578 (¶78 in 1665 ed.):



Justice is no more than a lively fear that our belongings will be taken away from us. This is at the root of men's consideration and respect for all the interests of others, and their scrupulous care never to do them wrong. This fear keeps a man within the bounds marked out for him by his birth or fortune, and without it he would constantly be encroaching on the rights of others.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]

[La justice n’est qu’une vive appréhension qu’on ne nous ôte ce qui nous appartient ; de là vient cette considération et ce respect pour tous les intérêts du prochain, et cette scrupuleuse application à ne lui faire aucun préjudice. Cette crainte retient l’homme dans les bornes des biens que la naissance ou la fortune lui ont donnés ; et sans cette crainte, il feroit des courses continuelles sur les autres.]
(Source)


¶580 (¶90 in 1665 ed.):



People hate injustice not through distaste for it but because of the harm it does them.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]

[On blâme l’injustice, non pas par l’aversion que l’on a pour elle, mais pour le préjudice que l’on en reçoit.]
(Source)


]]> https://wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-francois/2375/feed/ 0 2375 https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2296/ https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2296/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=2296 Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.




Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
    (Source)

Another phrase King used on repeated occasions, e.g., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Therefore, no American can afford to be apathetic about the problem of racial justice. It is a problem that meets every man at his front door" -- "The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness," Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960). ]]> https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2296/feed/ 0 2296 https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/3578/ https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/3578/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=3578 LEAR: Through tattered clothes small vices do appear.
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks.
Arm it in rags, a pygmy’s straw does pierce it.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 4, sc. 6, l. 180ff (4.6.180-183) (1606)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/shakespeare-william/3578/feed/ 0 3578 https://wist.info/watterson-bill/4070/ https://wist.info/watterson-bill/4070/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=4070

CALVIN: It’s not fair!

CALVIN’S DAD: The world isn’t fair, Calvin.

CALVIN: I know, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?


Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1986-04-14)
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/watterson-bill/4070/feed/ 0 4070 https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/3850/ https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/3850/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=3850 Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10
    (Source)

Based on an 1848 lecture at the Concord Lyceum. ]]> https://wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/3850/feed/ 0 3850 https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2298/ https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2298/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=2298 In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963) ]]> https://wist.info/king-martin-luther/2298/feed/ 0 2298 https://wist.info/ivins-molly/2040/ https://wist.info/ivins-molly/2040/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=2040 Yes, the bad-lawyer felony is the leading cause of the death penalty in Texas. The single most dangerous thing you can be in Texas is poor.

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1997-06-10), Creators Syndicate column ]]> https://wist.info/ivins-molly/2040/feed/ 0 2040 https://wist.info/grant-ulysses-s/1724/ https://wist.info/grant-ulysses-s/1724/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=1724 I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.

Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) American military leader, US President (1869–77)
Inaugural Address ]]> https://wist.info/grant-ulysses-s/1724/feed/ 0 1724 https://wist.info/acton-lord/441/ https://wist.info/acton-lord/441/#respond Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000 Dave http://wist.info/wp/?p=441 Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.

John Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834–1902) British historian, politician, writer
Letter (1861-01-23) to Richard Simpson
    (Source) ]]> https://wist.info/acton-lord/441/feed/ 0 441