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.
Whatever opens opportunity and hope will help to prevent crime and foster responsibility.
We did not yet have laws or order. We were like children just learning to walk.
What we have in us of the image of God, is the love of truth and justice.
You will never find justice in a world where criminals make the rules.
Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.
Men are always invoking justice; yet it is justice which should make them tremble.
The injustice of men subserves the justice of God, and often His mercy.