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Theft is only punished because it violates the right of property; but this right is itself nothing in origin but theft.

— Marquis de Sade Juliette (1797)

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Justice

More quotes by Marquis de Sade

A person must have lost his mind to believe in God.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

Fear and ignorance, you will continue, are two mainstays of any and all religions.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

Benevolence is more a vice of pride than a true virtue of the soul.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

Modesty is an old-fashioned virtue, which, given your charms, you must certainly do without.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

The law which attempts a man's life [capital punishment] is impractical, unjust, inadmissible. It has never repressed crime—for a second crime is every day committed at the foot of the scaffold.

Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)

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Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.

Francis Bacon Meditationes sacræ (1597)

If the church ... does not make God's liberation of the oppressed central in its mission and proclamation, how can it rest easy with a condemned criminal as the dominant symbol of its message?

James H. Cone Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (1986)

It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.

Muhammad

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Marquis de Sade (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.