William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (in office in 1841)
Inaugural address (March 4, 1841)
Father p. 87
Last of the Amazons (2002)
William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) American general and politician, 9th President of the United States (in office in 1841)
Inaugural address (March 4, 1841)
Moses I. Finley (1912–1986) American historian
Source: Democracy Ancient And Modern (Second Edition) (1985), Chapter 2, Athenian Demagogues, p. 60
“Man was formed for society and is neither capable of living alone, nor has the courage to do it.”
William Blackstone book Commentaries on the Laws of England
Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769)
Source: Introduction, Section II: Of the Nature of Laws in General
Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) English historian and Member of Parliament
Vol. 1, Chap. 71.
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire: Volume 1 (1776)
Seneca the Younger book Epistulae morales ad Lucilium
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter CIV: On Care of Health and Peace of Mind
“The Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.”
John Marshall (1755–1835) fourth Chief Justice of the United States
Gautama Buddha (-563–-483 BC) philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism
Part VII, Chapter 2: On Killing
Mahayana, Śūraṅgama Sūtra
John Rawls book A Theory of Justice
Source: A Theory of Justice (1971; 1975; 1999), Chapter II, Section 14, pg. 87-88
Context: Occasionally this reflection is offered as an excuse for ignoring injustice, as if the refusal to acquiesce in injustice is on a par with being unable to accept death. The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts.
Context: We may reject the contention that the ordering of institutions is always defective because the distribution of natural talents and the contingencies of social circumstance are unjust, and this injustice must inevitably carry over to human arrangements. Occasionally this reflection is offered as an excuse for ignoring injustice, as if the refusal to acquiesce in injustice is on a par with being unable to accept death. The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts. Aristocratic and caste societies are unjust because they make these contingencies the ascriptive basis for belonging to more or less enclosed and privileged social classes. The basic structure of these societies incorporates the arbitrariness found in nature. But there is no necessity for men to resign themselves to these contingencies. The social system is not an unchangeable order beyond human control but a pattern of human action. In justice as fairness men agree to avail themselves of the accidents of nature and social circumstance only when doing so is for the common benefit. The two principles are a fair way of meeting the arbitrariness of fortune; and while no doubt imperfect in other ways, the institutions which satisfy these principles are just.