Source: Present Status of the Philosophy of Law and of Rights (1926), Ch. VII, Natural Right, p. 68.
“The circumstances of justice may be described as the normal conditions under which human cooperation is both possible and necessary.”
Source: A Theory of Justice (1971; 1975; 1999), Chapter III, Section 22, pg. 126
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
John Rawls 63
American political philosopher 1921–2002Related quotes
Chap. 4 : The Live-and-Let-Live System in World War I
The Evolution of Cooperation (1984; 2006)

“That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another.”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 256 (11 April 1842)
1840s
Context: That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be, and often is, right under another. God said, 'Thou shalt not kill'; at another time He said, 'Thou shalt utterly destroy.' This is the principle on which the government of heaven is conducted— by revelation adapted to the circumstances in which the children of the kingdom are placed. Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long after the events transpire.
Adam Przeworski and Michael Wallerstein, The American Political Science Review (Jun., 1982)
Source: Socialism: Past and Future (1989), p. 1

Thoughts Upon Slavery (1774)
Context: I deny that villany is ever necessary. It is impossible that it should ever be necessary for any reasonable creature to violate all the laws of justice, mercy, and truth. No circumstances can make it necessary for a man to burst in sunder all the ties of humanity. It can never be necessary for a rational being to sink himself below a brute. A man can be under no necessity of degrading himself into a wolf. The absurdity of the supposition is so glaring, that one would wonder any one can help seeing it.

advice for studying the phenomena of electrical repulsion and attraction by [Jean-Baptiste Biot, translated by John Farrar, Elements of electricity, magnetism, and electro-magnetism, Hilliard and Metcalf, 1826, http://books.google.com/books?id=XPM4AAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA2,M1, 2]

“Under normal circumstances, you inviting me to the bedroom would be the highlight of my day.”
Source: The Indigo Spell

Cooperation among Animals with Human Implications (1951), page 213 (cited in "The Altruism Equation", by Lee Alan Dugatkin (2006), page 58).