Pope John Paul II Quotes

Justice is itself the great standing policy of civil society; and any eminent departure from it, under any circumstances, lies under the suspicion of being no policy at all.

The American flag is an enduring symbol of liberty, democracy, and justice. It is fitting that the House act to protect it as we approach our nation's birthday, and as our men and women in uniform rally behind it in Iraq's battlefields.

The basic notion of justice, is that the rights of everybody are equals, in principle. In the rights of others, we have to respect our own rights. It is only in that condition that we can reasonably require that it be respected by others…. The realization of justice is, in the actual state of things, a matter of life or death for society and for civilization itself.

Respect for the rule of law is not optional; it's fundamental.

History will also give occasion to expatiate on the advantage of civil orders and constitutions; how men and their properties are protected by joining in societies and establishing government; their industry encouraged and rewarded, arts invented, and life made more comfortable; the advantages of liberty, mischiefs of licentiousness, benefits arising from good laws and a due execution of justice. Thus may the first principles of sound politics be fixed in the minds of youth.

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

In any society that is governed by the rule of law, some form of morality is always imposed. It's inescapable.

If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.

The freedom enjoyed in Western society under the rule of law and constitutional government explains both the quality of its civilization and its wealth.

In the name of the rule of law, democracy and human rights, we cannot accept that the rights of individuals (Arab or Muslim) be trampled upon, or that populations are targeted and discriminated against in the name of the war against terrorism.

The law is bigger than money - but only if the law works hard enough.

It lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it. While it lies there, it needs no constitution, no law, no court to save it.

May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do.

A resilient people cherishing liberty and equality and the rule of law will endure.

Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.

We believe in humility and integrity, the spirit of one people, bound together under God. We understand that the Constitution was written to control and regulate the government, not the people.

A liberty subject to law and subordinate to the common welfare.

Do we exert our own liberties without injury to others - we exert them justly; do we exert them at the expense of others - unjustly. And, in thus doing, we step from the sure platform of liberty upon the uncertain threshold of tyranny.

In civilized life, law floats in a sea of ethics. Each is indispensable to civilization. Without law, we should be at the mercy of the least scrupulous; without ethics, law could not exist.

Anyone who takes it upon himself ... to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones.

Connect liberty with knowledge and both with morality.

The law expresses the values and aspirations of our society.

I should have done violence to my convictions of duty, had I not made use of all the lawful means in my power to liberate those people, and assist them to become men and women, rather than leave them in the condition of chattels personal.