Unjust Laws Quotes

• Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.

  Noah Webster

  Army, Gun, Power

  Noah Webster (1787). “An Examination Into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution Proposed by the Late Convention Held at Philadelphia: With Answers to the Principal Objections that Have Been Raised Against the System”, p.43

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• One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Religious, Responsibility

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.60, Beacon Press

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• One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ' an unjust law is no law at all.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Responsibility, Law, Unjust

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.60, Beacon Press

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• If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Motivational, Religious, Freedom

  Civil Disobedience (1849) See Savio 1

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• Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?

  Henry David Thoreau

  Law, Unjust, Endeavor

  Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.79, Penguin

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• It seems to me that an unjust law is no law at all.

  Saint Augustine

  Law, Unjust, Moral Responsibility

  "On Free Choice Of The Will" by Saint Augustine, Book 1, § 5, 395 AD.

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• No intelligent man has any respect for an unjust law.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Intelligent, Men, Law

  Robert A. Heinlein (1988). “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”

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• Just as it is the duty of all men to obey just laws, so it is the duty of all men to disobey unjust laws.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Men, Law, Unjust

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• An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Inspirational, Motivational, Law

  Mahatma Gandhi (2007). “Gandhi on Non-Violence”, p.88, New Directions Publishing

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• There comes a point at which a law can be so unjust it is necessary openly, lovingly and with a willingness to accept the consequences to refuse to comply with a greatly unjust law.

  Robert P. George

  Law, Unjust, Accepting

  Source: saynsumthn.wordpress.com

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• Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.

  Isaiah

  Rights, Law, Issues

  Isaiah 10:1-4, www.biblegateway.com.

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• Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.

  Unknown

  Government, Liberty, Libertarian

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• There are two types of laws: there are just laws and there are unjust laws... What is the difference between the two?...An unjust law is a man-made code that is out of harmony with the moral law.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Men

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• One of the worst things about breaking the law is that it puts one at odds with an indeterminate number of other people. This is among the many corrosive effects of having unjust laws: They tempt peaceful and (otherwise) honest people to lie so as to avoid being punished for behavior that is ethically blameless.

  Sam Harris

  Lying, Odds, Law

  Sam Harris (2013). “Lying”, p.33, Four Elephants Press

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• An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Motivational, Respect, Kings

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

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• In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Responsibility, Marijuana

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• As long as the superstition that people should obey unjust laws exists, so long will slavery exist

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Law, Long, People

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• There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.

  Aaron Swartz

  Light, Law, Justice

  Aaron Swartz (2016). “The Boy Who Could Change the World: The Writings of Aaron Swartz”, p.27, The New Press

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• One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Law, Unjust

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

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• Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was seen sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar because a higher moral law was involved. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks, before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman empire.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, Pain, Block

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.93, Beacon Press

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• When I refuse to obey an unjust law, I do not contest the right of the majority to command, but I simply appeal from the sovereignty of the people to the sovereignty of mankind.

  Alexis de Tocqueville

  Law, People, Justice

  Alexis de Tocqueville (2001). “Democracy in America”, p.107, Penguin

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• Unjust laws have to be fought ideologically; they cannot be fought or corrected by means of mere disobedience and futile martyrdom.

  Ayn Rand

  Mean, Law, Unjust

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.225, Penguin

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• Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Life, God

  Albert Einstein (1949). “The World as I See it”, Citadel Press

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• Unjust laws aren't laws at all.

  Saint Augustine

  Law, Unjust

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• Those who deny the right of a jury to protect an individual in resisting an unjust law of the government, deny him all defence whatsoever against oppression.

  Lysander Spooner

  Government, Law, Unjust

  Lysander Spooner (2004). “An Essay on the Trial by Jury”, p.10, The Minerva Group, Inc.

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