Justice - Quotes

"Justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done"

[Gordon, 1st Baron Of Bury Hewart (1870-1943), British judge. Quoted in King's Bench Reports, vol. 1 (1924). ruling on the quashing of a conviction on technical grounds, Nov. 9, 1923, in Rex v. Sussex Justices]

"Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity"

[John Emerich Edward Dalberg, 1st Baron Acton (1834-1902), British historian. letter, Jan. 23, 1861. Lord Acton and his Circle, letter 74, ed. Abbot Gasquet (1906)]

"Then not only custom, but also nature affirms that to do is more disgraceful than to suffer injustice, and that justice is equality"

[Plato (c. 427-347 B.C.), Greek philosopher. Gorgias, 489 A]

"For there is no defense for a man who, in the excess of his wealth, has kicked the great altar of Justice out of sight"

[Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.), Greek tragedian. Agamemnon, l. 381]

"Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary"

[Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), U.S. theologian, historian. The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, foreword (1944)]