Need a good philosophical quote to open paper, "What is Law?"

[scott8]

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Thythe]

I was always partial to the Roscoe Pound quote "the law should be stable, but it must not stand still." I'm not sure if this would work as an opener or not, but is good nonetheless.

[Skipbidder]

Give me some idea of what you will be saying in the paper.
For example, John Locke in the late 17th Century, beleived that humans had access to moral laws even without having been taught them. (They existed in the "state of nature".)

"Reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that, being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or profession."

If you don't like this, I can probably give you something from between 1600-1900 British philosophers. Once again, giving me the basic argument from your paper would allow me to tailor the quote.

[Popinjay]

Socrates from Plato's Phaedrus

“If anyone means to deliberate successfully about anything […] he must know what it is he is deliberating about”

[Blarg]

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to steal bread...and sleep under bridges."

There's another phrase in the middle that I forget. It's by some French dude...I saw it in a book called The Curmudgeon's Companion or something like that. Damn, wish I could remember the whole thing.

[Skipbidder]

[ QUOTE ]
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to steal bread...and sleep under bridges."

There's another phrase in the middle that I forget. It's by some French dude...I saw it in a book called The Curmudgeon's Companion or something like that. Damn, wish I could remember the whole thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich, as well as the poor, to sleep under the bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
-- Anatole France (1844-1924)

[jesusarenque]

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.

--Anatole France

[Blarg]

Ah, beautiful, thanks so much! It always bugged me that I forgot that one section of that great quote. It's a real keeper.

[lucas9000]

there are some good ones here (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justice)

[istewart]

Opening papers with quotes is -EV.

[Skipbidder]

[ QUOTE ]
there are some good ones here (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Justice)

[/ QUOTE ]


This is a much better resource than the "Skipbidder digs through his political philosophy books looking for the pages he bookmarked ten years ago" approach, which is what I was going to do in the alternative once OP gave us a little more direction.

[manpower]

Lucky for you I've got a Law I final tomorrow. My book opens with the following quote: "The life of law has not been logic; it has been experience." Oliver Wendell Holmes (1881)

Seems a little odd to me, but every chapter opens with a quote so you know... there's more where that came from.

[astroglide]

Hey, I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule.

[Blarg]

Sounds like somebody with a better vocabulary was channeling Beavis.

[astroglide]

it's randall from the movie 'clerks'

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. -- Ayn Rand

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I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, two men are called a Law Firm, and three or more are called a Congress. -- John Adams

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[ QUOTE ]
The more laws and order are made prominent, the more thieves and robbers there will be. -- Lao Tsu

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We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. -- Ronald Reagan

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[ QUOTE ]
Power is the great evil with which we are contending. We have divided power between three branches of government and erected checks and balances to prevent abuse of power. However, where is the check on the power of the judiciary? If we fail to check the power of the judiciary, I predict that we will eventually live under judicial tyranny. -- Patrick Henry

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. They are the lovers of law and order, who observe the law when the government breaks it. -- Henry David Thoreau, Slavery in Massachusetts

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Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. -- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, c. 4BC - 65AD.

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The Judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric. -- Thomas Jefferson, 1820

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The more corrupt the state, the more laws it has. -- Tacitus

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[ QUOTE ]
Every law is an evil for every law is an infraction of liberty. -- Jeremy Bentham

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[Monkeyslacks]

If you need more than a simple quote, check out Holmes "The Path of Law". If you want to get real deep, Kafka "The Trial" is good food for thought, but probably not quickly digestable.

[pokerjo22]

[ QUOTE ]
In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ethan]

[ QUOTE ]
Opening papers with quotes is -EV.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. Your professor's looking for your thoughts on the topic, so how about you give those instead of someone else's?

[Blarg]

In the Marquis de Sade's book Justine, I think it was, there's a great passage where someone is telling Justine something on the order of, "Life consists of the decision whether to be the criminal or the victim." I'm sure it was worded a bit differently, though.

[MrFeelNothin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this one better:

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of a elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

[bd8802]

"The law, intolerant of its own history, intervenes as an absolutely emergent order, absolute and detached from any origin. It appears as something that does not appear as such in the course of a history. At all event, in cannot be constituted by some history that might give rise to any story. If there were any history, it would be neither presentable nor relatable: the history of that which never took place."
JACQUES DERRIDA "Before The Law"

[pc in NM]

[ QUOTE ]
Any ideas would be appreciated.

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"The first thing we do after the revolution is kill all the lawyers!"

pc, 1967