
Dissenting, Poulos v. New Hampshire, 345 U.S. 395 (1953)
Judicial opinions
Tarleton v. McGawley (1795), 2 Peake, N. P. Ca. 208
Dissenting, Poulos v. New Hampshire, 345 U.S. 395 (1953)
Judicial opinions
Peace and the Public Mind (1935)
Context: We use power, of course, in the international fields in a way which is the exact contrary to the way in which we use it within the state. In the international field, force is the instrument of the rival litigants, each attempting to impose his judgment upon the other. Within the state, force is the instrument of the community, the law, primarily used to prevent either of the litigants imposing by force his view upon the other. The normal purpose of police — to prevent the litigant taking the law into his own hands, being his own judge — is the precise contrary of the normal purpose in the past of armies and navies, which has been to enable the litigant to be his own judge of his own rights when in conflict about them with another.
Sir Thomas More, Act II
A Man for All Seasons (1960)
1920s, Law and Order (1920)
Curtain - Poirot's Last Case (1975)
Context: I have no more now to say. I do not know, Hastings, if what I have done is justified or not justified. No — I do not know. I do not believe that a man should take the law into his own hands... But on the other hand, I am the law! As a young man in the Belgian police force I shot down a desperate criminal who sat on a roof and fired at people below. In a state of emergency martial law is proclaimed.
“Is he alone who has courage on his right hand and faith on his left hand?”
As quoted in 1927 (2000) by Robert P. Fitton
“The right for the right's sake is the motto which everyone should take for his own life.”
Section 9 : Ethical Outlook
Founding Address (1876), Life and Destiny (1913)
Context: The right for the right's sake is the motto which everyone should take for his own life. With that as a standard of value we can descend into our hearts, appraise ourselves, and determine in how far we already are moral beings, in how far not yet.