WIST Quotations

Tocqueville, Alexis de -- Democracy in America, Part 2, ch. 14 (1835) [tr. Goldhammer (2004)]

Dave — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 23:02:27 +0000

I am quite prepared to concede that public peace is a great good, yet I do not want to forget that every nation that has ended in tyranny has come to that end by way of good order. It certainly does not follow from this that peoples should scorn public peace, but neither should they be satisfied with that and nothing more. A nation that asks nothing of government but the maintenance of order is already a slave in the depths of its heart; it is a slave of its well-being, ready for the man who will put it in chains.

[Je conviendrai sans peine que la paix publique est un grand bien; mais je ne veux pas oublier cependant que c’est à travers le bon ordre que tous les peuples sont arrivés à la tyrannie. Il ne s’ensuit pas assurément que les peuples doivent mépriser la paix publique; mais il ne faut pas qu’elle leur suffise. Une nation qui ne demande à son gouvernement que le maintien de l’ordre est déjà esclave au fond du cœur; elle est esclave de son bien-être, et l’homme qui doit l’enchaîner peut paraître.]

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) French writer, diplomat, politician
Democracy in America, Part 2, ch. 14 (1835) [tr. Goldhammer (2004)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Another translation:

I readily admit that public tranquility is a great good; but at the same time I cannot forget that all nations have been enslaved by being kept in good order. Certainly it is not to be inferred that nations ought to despise public tranquility; but that state ought not to content them. A nation which asks nothing of its government but the maintenance of order is already a slave at heart, -- the slave of its own well-being, awaiting but the hand that will bind it.
[tr. Reeve (1835)]

Douglas, William O. -- Points of Rebellion, ch. 1 “How America Views Dissent” (1969)

Dave — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 23:54:41 +0000

Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order, to efficiency of operations, to scientific advancement, and the like.

William O. Douglas (1898–1980) American jurist, US Supreme Court justice (1939–75)
Points of Rebellion, ch. 1 “How America Views Dissent” (1969)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1903-09-07), “The Square Deal,” Labor Day, New York State Agricultural Association, New York State Fair, Syracuse

Dave — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 19:50:33 +0000

We must keep ever in mind that a republic such as ours can exist only by virtue of the orderly liberty which comes through the equal domination of the law over all men alike, and through its administration in such resolute and fearless fashion as shall teach all that no man is above it and no man below it.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1903-09-07), “The Square Deal,” Labor Day, New York State Agricultural Association, New York State Fair, Syracuse
(Source)

Hobbes, Thomas -- Leviathan, Part 2 “Of Common-wealth,” ch. 21 “Of the Liberty of Subjects” (1651)

Dave — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 06:58:49 +0000

The Lawes are of no power to protect them, without a Sword in the hands of a man, or men, to cause those laws to be put in execution.

Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) English philosopher
Leviathan, Part 2 “Of Common-wealth,” ch. 21 “Of the Liberty of Subjects” (1651)
(Source)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1838-01-27), Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield, Illinois

Dave — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 01:36:34 +0000

I know the American People are much attached to their Government; — I know they would suffer much for its sake; — I know they would endure evils long and patiently, before they would ever think of exchanging it for another. Yet, notwithstanding all this, if the laws be continually despised and disregarded, if their rights to be secure in their persons and property, are held by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from the Government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or later, it must come.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Speech (1838-01-27), Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield, Illinois
(Source)

Bates, Katharine Lee -- Poem (1893), “America,” st. 2 (1904 ed.)

Dave — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 23:23:41 +0000

America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

Katharine Lee Bates (1859–1929) American writer and poet
Poem (1893), “America,” st. 2 (1904 ed.)
(Source)

This text was introduced in Bates' 1904 version of the song. It was not in the original version published in The Congregationalist, Vol. 80, No. 27 (1895-07-04); the end of stanza 2 originally ended:

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

For more information on the history of this poem and song, see America the Beautiful - Wikipedia.

Thoreau, Henry David -- Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts

Dave — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 22:52:30 +0000

The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. They are the lovers of law and order, who observe the law when the government breaks it.

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts
(Source)

After the conviction in Boston of Anthony Burns, under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This led to large protests and an abolitionist riot at the Boston Courthouse, requiring Federal troops and state militia to ensure Burns' transport to a ship sailing to Virginia.

In context, Thoreau is arguing the quality of a higher law, higher than the Fugitive Slave Law or Constitutional legalism from the courts -- the "law of humanity," which condemns the injustice of slavery.

Hand, Learned -- United States v. Coplon, 185 F.2d 629 (2d Cir. 1950) [majority opinion]

Dave — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 21:13:22 +0000

All governments, democracies as well as autocracies, believe that those they seek to punish are guilty; the impediment of constitutional barriers are galling to all governments when they prevent the consummation of that just purpose. But those barriers were devised and are precious because they prevent that purpose and its pursuit from passing unchallenged by the accused, and unpurged by the alembic of public scrutiny and public criticism. A society which has come to wince at such exposure of the methods by which it seeks to impose its will upon its members, has already lost the feel of freedom and is on the path towards absolutism.

Learned Hand (1872–1961) American jurist
United States v. Coplon, 185 F.2d 629 (2d Cir. 1950) [majority opinion]
(Source)

Snow, C. P. -- “The Moral Un-Neutrality of Science,” speech, American Association for the Advancement of Science, New York City (27 Dec 1960)

Dave — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 22:05:28 +0000

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find that far more, and far more hideous, crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.

C. P. Snow (1905–1980) English novelist, physical chemist, bureaucrat [Charles Percy Snow]
“The Moral Un-Neutrality of Science,” speech, American Association for the Advancement of Science, New York City (27 Dec 1960)
(Source)

Reprinted in Science (27 Jan 1961) and then in Public Affairs (1971).

Parsons, Lucy -- “The Principles of Anarchism,” lecture (1905)

Dave — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 16:50:35 +0000

We have laws, jails, courts, armies, guns and armories enough to make saints of us all, if they were the true preventives of crime; but we know they do not prevent crime; that wickedness and depravity exist in spite of them, nay, increase as the struggle between classes grows fiercer, wealth greater and more powerful and poverty more gaunt and desperate.

Lucy Parsons (1851–1942) American labor organizer, anarchist, orator [a.k.a. Lucy Gonzalez]
“The Principles of Anarchism,” lecture (1905)
(Source)

Diamond, Jared -- “Choosing Success,” interview by Catherine Seip, National Review (30 Jun 2006)

Dave — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 14:58:26 +0000

Genocide is natural! Rape is natural! No, what’s natural is not necessarily good — often it’s repulsive. One of the most important functions of human society, and the driving force behind most political institutions, is to prevent humans from doing what comes naturally.

Jared Diamond (b. 1937) American geographer, historian, ornithologist, author
“Choosing Success,” interview by Catherine Seip, National Review (30 Jun 2006)
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Document (1776-06-18), “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,” Preamble (enacted 1786-01-16)

Dave — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 15:41:55 +0000

To suffer the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of principles, on the supposition of their ill tendency, is a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because he being of course judge of that tendency, will make his opinions the rule of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they shall square with or differ from his own.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Document (1776-06-18), “Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom,” Preamble (enacted 1786-01-16)
(Source)

Benn, Tony -- Speech in Bristol (4 Aug 1972)

Dave — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 15:55:09 +0000

[The first principle of British democracy is] our prime duty to each other and to what our conscience tells us to be right. If this leads individuals into conflict with the law, those individuals must be ready to take the consequences non-violently. In our democracy no man should tell another man to break the law, nor should any man break the law to by-pass Parliament. But a person who is punished for breaking an unjust law may if he is sincere and his cause wins public sympathy, create a public demand to have that unjust law changed through Parliament. This is the first and most fundamental principle of British democracy. It has a deep moral significance. Our religious and political liberties rest upon it.

Tony Benn (1925–2014) British politician, writer, diarist
Speech in Bristol (4 Aug 1972)
(Source)

Stanley, Jason -- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 7 (2018)

Dave — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 15:34:22 +0000

Fascist law-and-order rhetoric is explicitly meant to divide citizens into two classes: those of the chosen nation, who are lawful by nature, and those who are not, who are inherently lawless. In fascist politics, women who do not fit traditional gender roles, nonwhites, homosexuals, immigrants, “decadent cosmopolitans,” those who do not have the dominant religion, are in their very existence violations of law and order. By describing black Americans as a threat to law and order, demagogues in the United States have been able to create a strong sense of white national identity that requires protection from the nonwhite “threat.”

Jason Stanley (b. 1969) American philosopher, epistemologist, academic
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 7 (2018)
(Source)

Taylor, Barbara Brown -- Essay (1998-03-18), “The Perfect Mirror,” Christian Century

Dave — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 15:52:43 +0000

One of the many things this story tells us is that Jesus was not brought down by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, which is always a deadly mix. Beware of those who claim to know the mind of God and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware of those who cannot tell God’s will from their own. Temple police are always a bad sign. When chaplains start wearing guns and hanging out at the sheriff’s office, watch out. Someone is about to have no king but Caesar.

Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
Essay (1998-03-18), “The Perfect Mirror,” Christian Century
(Source)

Arendt, Hannah -- Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Dave — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 18:25:39 +0000

For the moral point of this matter is never reached by calling what happened by the name of “genocide” or by counting the many millions of victims: the extermination of whole peoples had happened before in antiquity, as well as in modern colonization. It is reached only when we realize that this happened within the frame of a legal order and that the cornerstone of this “new law” consisted of the command “Thou shalt kill,” not thy enemy but innocent people who were not even potentially dangerous, and not for any reason of necessity but, on the contrary, even against all military and other utilitarian considerations.

Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine
(Source)

Collected in Responsibility and Judgment, Part 1 "Responsibility" (2003).

Artaud, Antonin -- Letter to André Gide (10 Feb 1935)

Dave — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 16:28:47 +0000

However fiercely opposed one may be to the present order, an old respect for the idea of order itself often prevents people from distinguishing between order and those who stand for order, and leads them in practise to respect individuals under the pretext of respecting order itself.

Antonin Artaud (1896–1948) French playwright, actor, director
Letter to André Gide (10 Feb 1935)
(Source)

Aristotle -- Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 3, ch. 16 / 1287a.32 [tr. Jowett (1885)]

Dave — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 15:58:39 +0000

Therefore he who bids the law rule may be deemed to bid God and Reason alone rule, but he who bids man rule adds an element of the beast; for desire is a wild beast, and passion perverts the minds of rulers, even when they are the best of men. The law is reason unaffected by desire.

Aristotle (384–322 BC) Greek philosopher
Politics [Πολιτικά], Book 3, ch. 16 / 1287a.32 [tr. Jowett (1885)]
(Source)

Other translations:

"He, therefore, who wishes Law to govern seems to wish for the rule of God and Intellect alone; he who wishes men to rule bring sin the element of the animal. For appetites are of this lower nature, and anger distorts the judgment of rulers, even of the best. And so Law is Intellect without animal impulses." [tr. Bolland (1877)]

"Moreover, he who would place the supreme power in mind, would place it in God and the laws; but he who entrusts man with it, gives it to a wild beast, for such his appetites sometimes make him; for passion influences those who are in power, even the very best of men: for which reason law is reason without desire." [tr. Ellis (1912)]

"He therefore that recommends that the law shall govern seems to recommend that God and reason alone shall govern, but he that would have man govern adds a wild animal also; for appetite is like a wild animal, and also passion warps the rule even of the best men. Therefore the law is wisdom without desire." [tr. Rackham (1932)]

"One who asks law to rule, therefore, is held to be asking god and intellect alone to rule, while one who asks man adds the beast. Desire is a thing of this sort; and spiritedness perverts rulers and the best men. Hence law is intellect without appetite." [tr. Lord (1984)]

Benedict, Ruth -- Patterns of Culture, ch. 8 “The Individual and Culture” (1934)

Dave — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:50:58 +0000

Society is only incidentally and in certain cases regulative, and law is no equivalent to the social order. […] Even in our civilization the law is never more than a crude implement of society, and one it is often enough necessary to check in its arrogant career. It is never to be read off as if it were the equivalent of the social order.

Ruth Benedict (1887–1947) American anthropologist
Patterns of Culture, ch. 8 “The Individual and Culture” (1934)
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Post, alt.fan.pratchett (11 Jan 1997)

Dave — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 18:29:37 +0000

Oh dear, I’m feeling political today. It’s just that it’s dawned on me that “zero tolerance” only seems to mean putting extra police in poor, run-down areas, and not in the Stock Exchange.

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Post, alt.fan.pratchett (11 Jan 1997)
(Source)

Macaulay, Thomas Babington -- Speech on re-election to Parliament, Edinburgh (2 Nov 1852)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 16:39:44 +0000

Let us shun extremes, not only because each extreme is in itself a positive evil, but also because each extreme necessarily engenders its opposite. If we love civil and religious freedom, let us in the day of danger uphold law and order. If we are zealous for law and order, let us prize, as the best safeguard of law and order, civil and religious freedom.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) English writer and politician
Speech on re-election to Parliament, Edinburgh (2 Nov 1852)
(Source)

Aaronovitch, Ben -- Broken Homes (2013)

Dave — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 13:55:30 +0000

It’s a police mantra that all members of the public are guilty of something, but some members of the public are more guilty than others.

Ben Aaronovitch (b. 1964) British author
Broken Homes (2013)

See Orwell.

Hayden, Teresa Nielsen -- Making Light, “Commonplaces”

Dave — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 16:01:23 +0000

If there is no willingness to use force to defend civil society, it’s civil society that goes away, not force.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden (b. 1956) American editor, writer, essayist
Making Light, “Commonplaces”
(Source)

Stout, Rex -- On “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” Invitation to Learning Radio Show, hosted by Mark Van Doren (Jan 1942)

Dave — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 20:25:45 +0000

I think the detective story is by far the best upholder of the democratic doctrine in literature. I mean, there couldn’t have been detective stories until there were democracies, because the very foundation of the detective story is the thesis that if you’re guilty you’ll get it in the neck and if you’re innocent you can’t possibly be harmed. No matter who you are. There was no such conception of justice until after 1830. There was no such thing as a policeman or a detective in the world before 1830, because the modern conception of the policeman and detective, namely, a man whose only function is to find out who did it and then get the evidence that will punish him, did not exist. … In Paris before the year 1800 — read the Dumas stories — there were gangs of people whose business was to go out and punish wrongdoers. But why? Because they had hurt De Marillac or Richelieu or the Duke or some Huguenot noble, not just because they had harmed society. It is only the modern policeman that is out to protect society.

Rex Stout (1886–1975) American writer
On “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” Invitation to Learning Radio Show, hosted by Mark Van Doren (Jan 1942)

Transcribed in Mark Van Doren, The New Invitation to Learning: The Essence of the Great Books of All Times (1942).

Johnson, Lyndon -- Speech (1965-08-20), White House Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity, Washington, D.C.

Dave — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 15:21:22 +0000

A rioter with a Molotov cocktail in his hands is not fighting for civil rights any more than a Klansman with a sheet on his back and a mask on his face. They are both more or less what the law declares them: lawbreakers, destroyers of constitutional rights and liberties, and ultimately destroyers of a free America.

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, educator, US President (1963–69)
Speech (1965-08-20), White House Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity, Washington, D.C.
(Source)

Discussing the Watts Riots in Los Angeles (11-16 August).

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1838-01-27), “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions,” Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield, Illinois

Dave — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:59:22 +0000

There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Speech (1838-01-27), “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions,” Young Men’s Lyceum, Springfield, Illinois
(Source)

Adams, John -- Speech (1770-12-03/04), Argument for the Defense, Boston Massacre Trial

Dave — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:25:21 +0000

We are to look upon it as more beneficial, that many guilty persons should escape unpunished, than one innocent person should suffer. The reason is, because it’s of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished; for guilt and crimes are so frequent in the world, that all of them cannot be punished; and many times they happen in such a manner, that it is not of much consequence to the public, whether they are punished or not.
But when innocence itself, is brought to the bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, it is immaterial to me, whether I behave well or ill; for virtue itself, is no security. And if such a sentiment as this, should take place in the mind of the subject, there would be an end to all security what so ever.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Speech (1770-12-03/04), Argument for the Defense, Boston Massacre Trial
(Source)

This is frequently (in social media) paraphrased down to:

It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, “whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,” and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.

Adams volunteered to represent the British against murder charges, even though it was a very unpopular thing to do.

More info here: Quote Files: John Adams on Innocence, Guilt, and Punishment – The Skeptical Libertarian.

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1808-11-21) to the Virginia Baptist Associations Meeting in Chesterfield

Dave — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:08:54 +0000

We have solved, by fair experiment, the great & interesting question Whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws; & we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely & openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason, & the serious convictions of his own enquiries.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1808-11-21) to the Virginia Baptist Associations Meeting in Chesterfield
(Source)

Terence -- Heauton Timoroumenos [The Self-Tormentor], Act 4, sc. 5, l. 48 (l. 796)

Dave — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:52:37 +0000

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."

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:14:06 +0000

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.

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

Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of -- “Of Prerogative, Power and Liberty,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)

Dave — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:19:05 +0000

Power is so apt to be insolent and Liberty to be saucy, that they are very seldom upon good Terms.

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax (1633–1695) English politician and essayist
“Of Prerogative, Power and Liberty,” Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections (1750)
(Source)

Confucius -- The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 4, verse 11 (4.11) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Soothill (1910)]

Dave — Wed, 12 May 2004 19:23:55 +0000

The man of honor thinks of his character, the inferior man of his position. The man of honor desires justice, the inferior man favor.

[君子懷德、小人懷土、君子懷刑、小人懷惠。]

Confucius (c. 551- c. 479 BC) Chinese philosopher, sage, politician [孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ, K'ung Fu-tzu, K'ung Fu Tse), 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ, Chungni), 孔丘 (Kǒng Qiū, K'ung Ch'iu)]
The Analects [論語, 论语, Lúnyǔ], Book 4, verse 11 (4.11) (6th C. BC – AD 3rd C.) [tr. Soothill (1910)]
(Source)

(Source (Chinese)). Other translations:

The superior man thinks of virtue; the small man thinks of comfort. The superior man thinks of the sanctions of law; the small man thinks of favours which he may receive.
[tr. Legge (1861)]

The masterly man has an eye to virtue, the common man, to earthly things; the former has an eye to penalties (for error), the latter, to favour.
[tr. Jennings (1895)]

A wise man regards the moral worth of a man; a fool, only his position. A wise man expects justice; a fool expects favours.
[tr. Ku Hung-Ming (1898)]

The proper man is concerned with examining his consciousness and acting on it, the small man is concerned about land; the superior man about legality, the small man about favors.
[tr. Pound (1933)]

Where gentlemen set their hearts upon moral force (tê), the commoners set theirs upon the soil. Where gentlemen think only of punishments, the commoners think only of exceptions.
[tr. Waley (1938)]

The perfect gentleman cherishes high moral conduct; the mean man, well-being. The perfect gentleman cherishes the penal code; the mean man, ex¬ emptions therefrom.
[tr. Ware (1950)]

While the gentleman cherishes benign rule, the small man cherishes his native land. While the gentleman cherishes a respect for the law, the small man cherishes generous treatment.
[tr. Lau (1979)]

The gentleman cherishes virtue, but the small man cherishes the soil; the gentleman cherishes the rigors of the law, but the small man cherishes leniency.
[tr. Dawson (1993)]

A gentleman seeks virtue; a small man seeks land. A gentleman seeks justice; a small man seeks favors.
[tr. Leys (1997)]

The gentleman cherishes virtue; the small man cherishes land. The gentleman cherishes institutions; the small man cherishes favors.
[tr. Huang (1997)]

The gentlemen are concerned about the virtuousness; the mean persons are concerned about the land. The gentlemen are concerned about the status; the mean persons are concerned about the benefit.
[tr. Cai/Yu (1998), #77]

Exemplary persons (junzi) cherish their excellence; petty persons cherish their land. Exemplary persons cherish fairness; petty persons cherish the thought of gain.
[tr. Ames/Rosemont (1998)]

The gentleman likes virtue; the little man likes partiality. The gentleman likes justice; the little man likes mercy.
[tr. Brooks/Brooks (1998)]

while the noble-minded cherish integrity, little people cherish territory. And while the noble-minded cherish laws, little people cherish privilege.
[tr. Hinton (1998)]

The gentleman cherishes virtue, whereas the petty person cherishes physical possessions. The gentleman thinks about punishments, whereas the petty person thinks about exemptions.
[tr. Slingerland (2003)]

The gentleman has his mind fixed on virtue; the petty man has his mind fixed on land. The gentleman has his mind fixed on penalties; the petty man has his mind fixed on bounty.
[tr. Watson (2007)]

The gentleman [junzi] worries about the condition of his moral character, while the common man [xiaoren] worries about [whether he can hold on to] his land. The gentleman is conscious of [not breaking] the law, while the common man is conscious of what benefits he might reap [from the state].
[tr. Chin (2014)]

A Jun Zi cares about virtuous and righteous principles, whereas a Xiao Ren cares about worldly matters. A Jun Zi cares about rules and discipline, whereas a Xiao Ren cares about benefits.
[tr. Li (2020)]

The superior man seeks what is right; the inferior one, what is profitable.
[Source]

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“Politics,” Essays: Second Series (1844)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1864-03-21) to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Washington, DC

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprize. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Speech (1864-03-21) to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Washington, DC
(Source)

Mauldin, Bill -- Interview by Donald R. Katz, “Bill Mauldin: Drawing Fire,” Rolling Stone (4 Nov 1976)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Law and order is like patriotism — anyone who comes on strong about patriotism has got something to hide — it never fails. They always turn out to be a crook or an asshole or a traitor or something.

Bill Mauldin (1921–2003) American editorial cartoonist, writer
Interview by Donald R. Katz, “Bill Mauldin: Drawing Fire,” Rolling Stone (4 Nov 1976)
(Source)

Paine, Thomas -- “Dissertation on the First Principles of Government” (Jul 1795)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American political philosopher and writer
“Dissertation on the First Principles of Government” (Jul 1795)

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