Rule of law

Explore 37 quotes about Rule of law

To no man will we sell, or deny, or delay, right or justice.

Magna Carta

Read The Magna Carta at the British Library's website

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Justice

Source

Magna Carta

Medium

Political charter

Genre

Political literature

Language

Latin

Time

1215 1210s 13th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Magna Carta Libertatum [Great Charter of Freedoms]. 5 June 1215, clause 40.

Current Citation

Magna Carta, translated by David A. Carpenter. Penguin Classics, 2015, clause 40.

Where-ever Law ends, Tyranny begins.

John Locke

Two Treatises of Government

Buy the Second Treatise of Civil Government at Amazon Buy the Second Treatise of Civil Government at Amazon
Read the Second Treatise of Civil Government at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Law Tyranny Political theory Politics

Author

John Locke

Source

Second Treatise of Civil Government Two Treatises of Government

Medium

Treatise

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1690 1690s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Locke, John. "Second Treatise of Civil Government." Two Treatises of Government. London: Awnsham Churchill, 1690, ch. 18, sect. 202.

Current Citation

Locke, John. Second Treatise of Civil Government, edited by C. B. Macpherson. Hackett Publishing Company, 1980, ch. 18, sect. 202.

A government of laws, and not of men.

John Adams

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Law

Author

John Adams

Source

To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay Boston Gazette

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1775 1770s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, John, [published as Novanglus]. "To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay." Boston Gazette, 6 Mar. 1775.

Current Citation

Adams, John. "Novanglus No. VII, March 6, 1775." John Adams: Revolutionary Writings 1755-1775, edited by Gordon S. Wood. Library of America, 2011.

But where says some is the king of America?...In America the law is king.

Thomas Paine

Common Sense

Buy Common Sense at Amazon Buy Common Sense at Amazon
Read Common Sense at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

Common Sense

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas [published anonymously]. Common Sense. Philadelphia: R. Bell, sect. 3.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, edited by Mark Philp. Oxford University Press, 2009, sect. 3.

The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws, and not of men.

John Marshall

Marbury v. Madison

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law American politics

Author

John Marshall

Source

Marbury v. Madison

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1803 1800s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Marshall, John. United States, Supreme Court. Marbury v. Madison. United States Reports, vol. 5, 24 Feb. 1803, pp. 137-180. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/5/137/.

Our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great republic is a government of laws and not of men.

Gerald Ford

On being sworn in as President following the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon's resignation.

More information about this quote

Topic

Watergate Rule of law American politics

Speaker

Gerald Ford

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1974 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Ford, Gerald. Remarks on taking the oath of office. 9 Aug. 1974, East Room, The White House, Washington, DC, USA.

For who can be secure of private right,
If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might?
Nor is the people's judgement always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few.

John Dryden

Absalom and Achitophel

Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon Buy a book containing this poem at Amazon
Read Absalom and Achitophel at Poetry Foundation

More information about this quote

Topic

The masses Rule of law Democracy

Author

John Dryden

Source

Absalom and Achitophel

Medium

Poem

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1681 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Dryden, John. Absalom and Achitophel. London: Jacob Tonson, 1681, pt. 1, I. 779.

Current Citation

Dryden, John. "Absalom and Achitophel." John Dryden Selected Poems. Penguin Classics, 2002, pt. 1, I. 779.

To abolish the fences of laws between men—as tyranny does—means to take away man's liberties and destroy freedom as a living political reality; for the space between men as it is hedged in by laws, is the living space of freedom.

Hannah Arendt

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Buy The Origins of Totalitarianism at Amazon Buy The Origins of Totalitarianism at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law

Author

Hannah Arendt

Source

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Schocken Books, 1951, pt. 3, ch. 13.

The history of liberty has largely been the history of observance of procedural safeguards.

Felix Frankfurter

McNabb v. United States

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Freedom

Author

Felix Frankfurter

Source

McNabb v. United States

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1943 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Frankfurter, Felix. United States, Supreme Court. McNabb v. United States. United States Reports, vol. 318, 1 Mar. 1943, pp. 339-349. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/318/332/.

Laws are silent in time of war.

Cicero

Pro Milone

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Law Legal theory Political theory War

Speaker

Cicero

Source

Pro Milone

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

Latin

Time

52 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Milone [In Defense of Milo]. c. 52 BC, sect. 11.

Current Citation

Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Pro Milone [For Milo], translated by D. H. Berry. Oxford University Press, 2009, sect. 11.

No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.

Theodore Roosevelt

More information about this quote

Topic

Applying the law Rule of law

Speaker

Theodore Roosevelt

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1903 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. "Third Annual Message to Congress." Joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives. 7 Dec. 1903, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

I know those law books mean a lot to you, but not out here. Out here a man settles his own problems.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Watch The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at Amazon Watch The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Frontier justice Rule of law

Speaker

Tom Doniphon

Actor

John Wayne

Source

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Medium

Film

Genre

Western (film) Western

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Directed by John Ford, John Ford Productions, 1962.

A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the highest 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.

Thomas Jefferson

Read this letter at the National Archives website

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Civic duty Citizenship

Author

Thomas Jefferson

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1810 1810s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to John B. Colvin. 20 Sept. 1810.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. "J. B. Colvin, Sep. 20, 1810." The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Including the Autobiography, The Declaration of Independence & His Public and Private Letters, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden. Modern Library, 1998.

To correct the evils, great and small, which spring from want of sympathy and from positive enmity, among strangers, as nations or as individuals, is one of the highest functions of civilization.

Abraham Lincoln

Buy Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings at Amazon Buy Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings at Amazon
Read the full text of this speech at umich.edu

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Purpose of government Political theory Politics Government

Speaker

Abraham Lincoln

Source

Speech to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin." 30 Sep. 1859, Milwawkee, WI, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Address to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 30, 1859." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed, or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.

Magna Carta

Read The Magna Carta at the British Library's website

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law

Source

Magna Carta

Medium

Political charter

Genre

Political literature

Language

Latin

Time

1215 1210s 13th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Magna Carta Libertatum [Great Charter of Freedoms]. 5 June 1215, clause 39.

Current Citation

Magna Carta, translated by David A. Carpenter. Penguin Classics, 2015, clause 39.

We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens.

Sandra Day O'Connor

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law in wartime Rule of law Constitutional law

Author

Sandra Day O'Connor

Source

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

2004 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

O'Connor, Sandra Day. United States, Supreme Court. Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld. United States Reports, vol. 542, 28 June 2004, pp. 507-599. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/542/507/.

No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

Magna Carta

Read The Magna Carta at the British Library's website

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Law

Source

Magna Carta

Genre

Legal writing

Language

Latin

Time

1215 1210s 13th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Magna Carta Libertatum [Great Charter of Freedoms]. 5 June 1215, clause 39.

Current Citation

Magna Carta, translated by David A. Carpenter. Penguin Classics, 2015, clause 39.

Our constitution is named a democracy, because it is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But our laws secure equal justice for all in their private disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sectional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we care the same spirit into our daily relations with one another... Open and friendly in our private intercourse, in our public acts we keep strictly within the control of law. We acknowledge the restraint of authority, and to the laws, more especially to those which offer protection to the oppressed and those unwritten ordinances whose transgression brings admitted shame.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon Buy History of the Peloponnesian War at Amazon
Read History of the Peloponnesian War at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Democracy Rule of law

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

A policeman's job is only easy in a police state. That's the whole point, Captain. Who's the boss, the cop or the law?

Touch of Evil

Watch Touch of Evil at Amazon Watch Touch of Evil at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Police

Speaker

Mike Vargas

Actor

Charlton Heston

Source

Touch of Evil

Medium

Film

Genre

Film noir Crime drama (film) Crime drama

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Touch of Evil. Directed by Orson Welles, Universal-International, 1958.

The majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

Anatole France

More information about this quote

Topic

Rule of law Law The poor Economic inequality

Speaker

Choulette

Author

Anatole France

Source

The Red Lily

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Irony

Language

French

Time

1894 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

France, Anatole. Le Lys Rouge [The Red Lily]. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1894, ch. 7.