Skip to content

A judge's duty is to grant justice, but his practice is to delay it: even those judges who know their duty adhere to the general practice.

— Jean de La Bruyère

Le devoir des juges est de rendre justice, leur métier est de la différer; quelques tins savent leur devour, et font leur métier.

Original text (French)

Another quote →

Topics

Justice

More quotes by Jean de La Bruyère

Wise men sometimes avoid the world, that they may not be surfeited with it.

Les Caractères (1688)

A wise man is cured of ambition by ambition itself; his aim is so exalted that riches, office, fortune, and favor cannot satisfy him.

Les Caractères (1688)

An intelligent man neither allows himself to be controlled nor attempts to control others; he wishes reason alone to rule, and that always.

Les Caractères (1688)

Time, which strengthens friendship, weakens love.

Les Caractères (1688)

There is, however, nothing wanting to the idleness of a philosopher but a better name, and that meditation, conversation, and reading should be called “work.”

Les Caractères (1688)

All Jean de La Bruyère quotes →

You may also like

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: Jean de La Bruyère (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.