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Justice Quotes

By a wide margin the most quotes here are Shakespeare’s, and the two judges who follow him, Lord Mansfield and Lord Kenyon, are a sign that this page leans on the bench as much as the stage. Seneca and John Rawls fill out the top five.

Among the sourced entries, Bierce’s definition from 1911 describes justice as a commodity the State sells to citizens as a reward for their allegiance, taxes and personal service. Sartre’s Dirty Hands (1948) and Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) are here for what they say about guilt, not courts.

Three lines carry flags: Marlowe’s “the justice of my quarrel,” Augustine on charity and withheld justice, and a Martin Luther King Jr. line about peace and justice being goals for man.

Random quote on Justice

Most quoted on justice:

I agree with the Honourable Justice Kwach, that the legal profession is in danger of being infiltrated by peasants.

Githu Muigai

More than six decades after independence, Nigeria is still grappling with issues of nationhood, equity, justice, inclusion and development.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi

I would say that my history growing up has made me care about social and environmental justice.

Ian van Coller

Secondly, what does justice require? In the end, it requires liberty.

John F. Kennedy

"You have a secret passion for justice. Why don't you admit it?"
"I have a secret passion for mercy. But justice is what keeps happening to people."

Ross Macdonald The Goodbye Look (1969)

The goal is justice, the method is transparency. It's important not to confuse the goal and the method.

Julian Assange

I have never wavered in a strict and inflexible justice between the two races. It is the sole justification and the only stable foundation for our rule.

George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

Is it a surprise to anybody in this room that if you don’t have any money, you don’t get any justice?

Mike Gravel

I posit a Jewish identity that embraces diversity and resists a closed circle. My hope is to join a debate about home, diversity, and justice.

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz The Colors of Jews: Racial Politics and Radical Diasporism (2007)

Am I a feminist? Yes , you can say that but I am also a great lover of human beings, freedom, justice, economic well being and human rights.

May7ven

[T]here is a sort of immanent justice, facilitating certain things in compensation for others.

Doria Shafik Doria Shafik Egyptian Feminist: A Woman apart (1996)

When I took my oath of office, I said to myself that my loyalty is not to the appointing power but to the Constitution, to justice and to the Filipino people.

Cecilia Muñoz-Palma

We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former Presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.

Mitch McConnell McConnell blames Trump but voted not guilty anyway (2021)

Thou art Justice — ne'er for gold
May thy righteous laws be sold
As laws are in England — thou
Shield'st alike the high and low.

Percy Bysshe Shelley The Masque of Anarchy (1819)

And so we, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace.

Barack Obama Eulogy of Nelson Mandela (2013)

When we have but the will to do it, that very moment will Justice be done: that very instant the tyrants of the Earth shall bite the dust.

Peter Kropotkin An Appeal to the Young (1880)

Superheroes reflect our human desire to give meaning to our lives by protecting the innocents, upholding justice, and mitigating existential threats.

Newton Lee

The success of SpaceShipOne was Justice Day for dreamers and pioneers past, present and future.

Vanna Bonta Space: What love's got to do with it - The Space Review (2004)

The scales of justice are in disarray[...]

Charlie Sheen

I am stunned and speechless. If this is accurate, the American people have been lied to and deceived for months. And justice must be served.

Michael Avenatti

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