WIST Quotations

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Legibus [On the Laws], Book 3, ch. 4 / sec. 11 (3.4/3.11) [Marcus] (c. 51 BC) [tr. Rudd (1998)]

Dave — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 18:15:44 +0000

If a person transgresses any of these rules, the penalty shall fit the crime.

[Quod quis earum rerum migrassit, noxiae poena par esto.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Legibus [On the Laws], Book 3, ch. 4 / sec. 11 (3.4/3.11) [Marcus] (c. 51 BC) [tr. Rudd (1998)]
(Source)

A variant on the Latin legal maxim, culpae poenae par esto, usually rendered "Let the punishment fit the crime" (see also Gilbert & Sullivan, The Mikado (1885)).

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

If any one shall infringe any of these laws, let him bear the penalty.
[tr. Barham (1842)]

If any one shall infringe any of these laws, let him be liable to a penalty.
[tr. Barham/Yonge (1878)]

The punishment for violation of any of these laws shall fit the offense.
[tr. Keyes (1928)]

Whatever of these someone has violated, let the penalty be equivalent to the crime.
[tr. Zetzel (1999)]

Whatever of these matters someone departs from, let there be a penalty equal to the wrongdoing.
[tr. Fott (2013)]

Whatever someone has violated, let the punishment match the offense.
[Bartelett's]

Galbraith, John Kenneth -- “The Predator State,” Mother Jones (May/Jun 2006)

Dave — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 21:21:07 +0000

In a predatory economy, the rules imagined by the law and economics crowd don’t apply. There’s no market discipline. Predators compete not by following the rules but by breaking them. They take the business-school view of law: Rules are not designed to guide behavior but laid down to define the limits of unpunished conduct. Once one gets close to the line, stepping over it is easy. A predatory economy is criminogenic: It fosters and rewards criminal behavior.

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Canadian-American economist, diplomat, author
“The Predator State,” Mother Jones (May/Jun 2006)
(Source)

Lao-tzu -- Tao-te Ching, ch. 57 [tr. Wing-Tsit Chan]

Dave — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:55:53 +0000

The more laws and orders are made prominent,
The more thieves and bandits there will be.

Lao-tzu (604?-531? BC) Chinese philosopher, poet [also Lao-tse, Laozi]
Tao-te Ching, ch. 57 [tr. Wing-Tsit Chan]

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).

Johnson, Samuel -- Poem (1738), “London: A Poem,” ll. 159-160

Dave — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:16:57 +0000

All Crimes are safe, but hated Poverty.
This, only this, the rigid Law pursues.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Poem (1738), “London: A Poem,” ll. 159-160
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1810-09-20) to John B. Colvin

Dave — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:30:56 +0000

It is incumbent on those only who accept of great charges, to risk themselves on great occasions, when the safety of the nation, or some of it’s very high interests are at stake. An officer is bound to obey orders: yet he would be a bad one who should do it in cases for which they were not intended, and which involved the most important consequences. The line of discrimination between cases may be difficult; but the good officer is bound to draw it at his own peril, & throw himself on the justice of his country and the rectitude of his motives.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1810-09-20) to John B. Colvin
(Source)

Thoreau, Henry David -- Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10

Dave — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:22:51 +0000

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.

Thoreau, Henry David -- Essay (1849-05), “Resistance to Civil Government [On the Duty of Civil Disobedience],” Æsthetic Papers, No. 1, Article 10

Dave — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:14:18 +0000

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?

Swift, Jonathan -- A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind (1707)

Dave — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:16:15 +0000

Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) English writer and churchman
A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind (1707)
(Source)

See Franklin.

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)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1810-09-20) to John B. Colvin

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

A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen: but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property & all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1810-09-20) to John B. Colvin
(Source)

Kissinger, Henry -- Quoted in Washington Post (23 Dec 1973)

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

The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.

Henry Kissinger (1923-2024) German-American diplomat
Quoted in Washington Post (23 Dec 1973)

See Santayana.