Law quotes

Law

9.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

9.3K quotes

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside law — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.

Quote collection

Law quotes (page 98 of 467)

Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.

George Harrison Musician, Singer-songwriter
Law

"We'll keep on being re-born because for the law of action and reaction: "What-so-ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap;" you reap when you come back in your next birth, what you've sown in your previous incarnation, that's why I'm me and you're you and he's him and we are all whoever we are."

Read quote 4 likes
George Orwell Writer, Journalist
Law

"The artist is to be exempt from the moral laws that are binding on ordinary people. Just pronounce the magic word "Art," and everything is O.K. Rotting corpses with snails crawling over them are O.K.; kicking little girls in the head is O.K.; even a film like L'Age d'Or is O.K."

Read quote 4 likes
George Will Political Commentator, Author
Law

"If those who wrote and ratified the 14th Amendment had imagined laws restricting immigration - and had anticipated huge waves of illegal immigration - is it reasonable to presume they would have wanted to provide the reward of citizenship to the children of the violators of those laws? Surely not."

Read quote 4 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Law

"Some may remember, if you have good memories, that there used to be a concept in Anglo-American law called a presumption of innocence, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Now that's so deep in history that there's no point even bringing it up, but it did once exist."

Read quote 4 likes
Noam Chomsky Linguist, Philosopher, Activist
Law

"There was also a national policy, which as a child I didn't know anything about. In 1924 the first major immigration law was passed. Before that, there was an Oriental Exclusion Act, but other than that, European immigrants like my parents were generally admitted in the early years of the twentieth century. But that ended in 1924 with an immigration law that was largely directed against Jews and Italians."

Read quote 4 likes
Henry David Thoreau Writer, Philosopher
Law

"Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice."

Read quote 4 likes
Henry David Thoreau Writer, Philosopher
Law

"The whole body of what is now called moral or ethical truth existed in the golden age as abstract science. Or, if we prefer, we may say that the laws of Nature are the purest morality."

Read quote 4 likes
Freeman Dyson Theoretical Physicist
Law

"Atoms are weird stuff, behaving like active agents rather than inert substances. They make unpredictable choices between alternative possibilities according to the laws of quantum mechanics. It appears that mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent inherent in every atom. The universe is also weird, with its laws of nature that make it hospitable to the growth of mind. I do not make any clear distinction between mind and God. God is what mind becomes when it passes beyond the scale of our comprehension."

Read quote 4 likes
Henry Rollins Musician, Writer, Actor
Law

"There is not one single police officer in America that I am not afraid of and not one that I would trust to tell the truth or obey the laws they are sworn to uphold. I do not believe they protect me in any way."

Read quote 4 likes
Henry Rollins Musician, Writer, Actor
Law

"What stands out to me in America was all the police vs. citizens turmoil. It's decades of bad policing, bad schooling, racism, bigotry and other factors finally spilling into mainstream culture. I would like to see America evolve on how the laws are enforced on the streets."

Read quote 4 likes
Friedrich Nietzsche Philosopher, Writer
Law

"Egoism is the law of perspective applied to feelings: what is closest appears large and weighty, and as one moves farther away size and weight decrease."

Read quote 4 likes
Friedrich Nietzsche Philosopher, Writer
Law

"Let us guard against saying that there are laws in nature. There are merely necessities: there is no one who commands, no one whoobeys, no one who transgresses. Once you understand that there are no purposes, then you also understand that nothing is accidental: for it is only in a world of purposes that the word "accident" makes sense."

Read quote 4 likes
John Adams Founding Father, Politician
Law

"Each individual of the society has a right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property, according to standing laws."

Read quote 4 likes
John Adams Founding Father, Politician
Law

"The study and practice of law ... does not dissolve the obligations of morality or of religion."

Read quote 4 likes
John Burroughs Naturalist, Writer
Law

"You cannot cause disproportionate damage to the environment; you cannot harm neutral states. The court said that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally contrary to the international law of armed conflict."

Read quote 4 likes
John Taylor Musician
Law

"All laws that are proper and correct, and all obligations entered into which are not violative of the constitution should be kept inviolate. But if they are violative of the constitution, then the compact between the rulers and the ruled is broken and the obligation ceases to be binding."

Read quote 4 likes