 |
|
Rather than share my thoughts on law I figured it might be better to ponder the words of some other, more learned, people. I like these quotes because most of them seem to hint at what Jesus meant about fulfilling the law. However, they often they seem to be suggesting that what we call The Law is not doing a good job of holding up God’s Law.
Do any of these words resonate with you? Or, on the other hand, which ones do you think are off base?
Perhaps you have a quotation or thought on law that you would like to share.
If you have ten thousand regulations you lose all respect for the law. Winston Churchill
You cannot make good men by law and without good men you cannot have a good society. C.S. Lewis
This is a court of law young man, not a court of justice. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Every law is an infraction of liberty. Jeremy Bentham
It would be better to have no laws at all, than to have too many. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken. Benjamin Disraeli
Good men must not obey the laws too well. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The law is reason, free from passion. Aristotle
We eagerly get hold of a law that serves as a weapon to our passions. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Certainly one of the highest duties of the citizen is a scrupulous obedience to the laws of the nation. But it is not the highest duty. Thomas Jefferson
Laws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time. Henry Ward Beecher
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important. Martin Luther King Jr.
It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for law, so much as a respect for right. Henry David Thoreau
Say what you will about the Ten Commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them. Henry Louis Mencken
I have spent all my life under a Communist regime, and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either. Alexander Solzhenitsyn
In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous. Publius Cornelius Tacitus
There is but one law for all, namely that law which governs all law, the law of our Creator, the law of humanity, justice, equity — the law of nature and of nations. Edmund Burke
Democracy is not the law of the majority but the protection of the minority. Albert Camus
Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment. Mohandas Gandhi
No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding Plato
Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. Jonathan Swift
Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies. Henri Frederic Amiel
And here is one more for the sake of perspective and perhaps a little irony. Abbas has been a leader of the PNA, PLO and Fatah;
We have one authority and one law and everyone has the responsibility to follow that law and that authority. Mahmoud Abbas
#1 by logiopath on July 9, 2008 - 9:45 pm
Wow. How prolific you have been since your vacation. Must be that high-lime water you drank in Arizona.
Anyway–The Law. I’m fast becoming a Libertarian–pushed by Maryland’s constant increase in ridiculous laws.
#2 by Christian Beyer on July 9, 2008 - 11:03 pm
The water is awful in Arizona. I never appreciated how good our Maryland water actually is until I got back.
The thing about Libertarians (and Anarchists as well) is that there is the idea that at some level all people are abiding by ‘The Law’ and have less of a need for all of society’s laws. I think that’s why with government and religion we become legalists – no one seems to be doing the right thing on their own. So we keep adding new laws.
#3 by logiopath on July 10, 2008 - 12:50 am
Hmm. I don’t think we need so many new laws–like the latest child seat law, requiring children up to 8 years old to be in a booster seat–or laws that will require people to use flourescent bulbs instead of incandescent are necessary. These laws, and other ridiculous legislation are enacted to make the legislature feel its own self-importance.
Here’s one fer you–many laws–especially spending, are snuck onto bills as amendments or riders. They sneak by without public notice. Bush and his buddies like The Hammer (what was his name, you know, the right-wing evangelical) foist this stuff on the public all the time. Even the Democratic congress paints Bush’s palm with this stuff. The worst part? This stuff is often attached to bills that go for relief from storms. Like sneaking a few billion into a relief bill, and spending the sneaky dough to conduct covert missions into Iran (while Bush calls health care for children a Budget Buster).
#4 by netprophet on July 10, 2008 - 10:02 pm
“I think that law in the United States has suffered some retrogression of recent date … I do not think that the full meaning and value of law are communicated to society through the law’s own formal processes . . . To be effective, the rule of law must be comprehended by society, not as an esoteric concept, but as a working principle comparable to regular elections and the secret ballot; and the plain fact is that it is not so comprehended. This, I think, is an educational deficiency . . .
“The American people do not sufficiently understand the rule of law be cause it has never been properly explained to them. The legal profession has not succeeded in explaining it perhaps because it has been too busy with ad hoc issues and winning cases. The teaching profes sion has not succeeded in explaining it per haps because it has not sensed its true importance. If the two great pillars of society, law and learning, are to stand, the professional representatives of each must come to the aid of the other . . .”
Yale’s President A. Whitney Griswold
Here is a relatively current look a fixing our law problems from the land of ‘Academia Nuts’. Have you ever seen two institutions with a population of more than 4 or 5, ever been able to come together on anything?
#5 by BuddyO on July 11, 2008 - 8:34 am
“Laws like totally suck dude… they’re so like legal and stuff…”
~ Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan
#6 by logiopath on July 12, 2008 - 9:29 pm
Rule of Law? Laws are really only enforced on the poorest of Americans–yet they seem to have the hardest time with the idea of the Rule of Law.
I disagree–places with far more than 4 or 5 people live under the Rule of Law (like in Indonesia and Singapore).
All this talk of the law makes me want to become a Libertarian.
#7 by Robert on July 22, 2008 - 9:26 am
Democracy is not the law of the majority but the protection of the minority. Albert Camus
I have always loved that!
Too many in this country feel that it is quite acceptable to legislate away the rights of a minority so long as the majority approves.
On Libertarianism
A Libertarian society would be ideal! Unfortunately we live in a society where common sense measures like seat belts and motorcycle helmets need be legislated and given force of LAW. Libertarianism does NOT work unless each member of the populace accepts fully the responsibility for his or her own actions or inactions as the case may be.
I have been thinking about an observation made by the recently departed sage G. Carlin:
Consider the average garden variety American. Do you have he or she in your mind? Now consider the intelligence and general aptitude for common sense this metaphorical person is possessed of. Not good, is it?
No further consider that half the population is worse off than that.
That’ll keep you up at night!
R.
#8 by Christian Beyer on July 22, 2008 - 9:47 am
Two points, Robert:
As per seatbelt and (especially) motorcycle helmet laws; I don’t know if the mandate given to government was originally to protect us from ourselves, but from each other and government. Although it certainly seems sensible to do so I think the founders were concerned of government usurping our rights in order for our own ‘benefit’. And of course that has proven to be the case.
I think Carlin’s assessment of ‘intelligence’ is an unfortunate by-product of the Enlightenment. We usually think of intelligence (as reflected on the standard IQ tests) in terms of language intelligence (which is necessary for mathematic assessment as well). There are other types of intelligence that almost everyone possesses that are not displayed in the same fashion.
I think this is one reason why most bartenders seem to have a better grasp of common sense than the average politician or bureaucrat. And being a fan of Carlin myself I think he might agree.
#9 by Robert on July 22, 2008 - 10:14 am
The problem becomes clear when an individual chooses NOT to engage his or her common sense…and then through his or someone else’s actions…is injured…and has no insurance to pay for care of the injuries sustained.
Does society raise it’s hands and say “Sorry! You have no insurance. Guess we let you die.”
Of course we don’t.
The taxpayers will in the end cover the costs one way, through direct subsidy of the medical costs, or the other through, higher insurance premiums on the rest of us…. or we will pay some other way…. society ALWAYS pays for individual lack of common sense.
Admittedly…I played ‘fast and loose’ with the word intelligence….
Perhaps I should have stayed with the use of ‘common sense’, I know many brilliant engineers who can’t do the simplest things. Intelligence is NO predictor of common sense.
R.
#10 by Christian Beyer on July 22, 2008 - 10:27 am
Yeah, that argument for the helmets – I’ve heard it before. But riding/driving without insurance is illegal anyway. There should be penalties. Of course those penalties may cost the taxpayers even more.
That being said, some states do not have these laws on the books. Their citizens are willing to take the risk of footing medical bills in order to limit government. I’m with those folks. Besides, there aren’t that many cyclists out there to make that much of a difference.
Don’t get me started on bicycle helmet laws. How did Wally and the Beaver ever survive?