Unjust Quotes - Page 18

• A person is not a democrat thanks to his ignorance of literature and the arts, nor an elitist because he or she has cultivated them. The possession of knowledge makes for unjust power over others only if used for that very purpose: a physician or lawyer or clergyman can exploit or humiliate others, or he can be a humanitarian and a benefactor. In any case, it is absurd to conjure up behind anybody who exploits his educated status the existence of an "elite" scheming to oppress the rest of us.

  Jacques Barzun

  Art, Ignorance, Physicians

  "Exeunt the Humanities". Essay by Jacques Barzun (1980) published in his book "The Culture We Deserve" (p. 117), 1989.

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• Suspicions which may be unjust need not be stated.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Needs, May, Suspicion

  Abraham Lincoln (2009). “The Portable Abraham Lincoln”, p.234, Penguin

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• Unjust force can never give any just dominion.

  John Arbuthnot

  Giving, Dominion, Force

  John Arbuthnot (1751). “The Miscellaneous Works of the Late Dr. Arbuthnot”

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• To me, it appears no unjust simile to compare the affairs of this great Continent to the mechanism of a clock, each state representing some one or other of the smaller parts of it which they are endeavoring to put in fine order without considering how useless & unavailing their labor is unless the great Wheel or Spring which is to set the whole in motion is also well attended to & kept in good order.

  George Washington

  Spring, Order, Useless

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson, United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission (1779). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.301

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• Say, heavenly pow'rs, where shall we find such love? Which of ye will be mortal to redeem Man's mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save.

  John Milton

  Men, Redemption, Crime

  John Milton (1773). “The First Six Books of Milton's Paradise Lost: Rendered Into Grammatical Construction ... with Notes Grammatical, Geographical, Historical, Critical, and Explanatory. To which are Prefixed Remarks on Ellipsis and Transposition ...”, p.191

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• The maxim that men are not to be praised before their death was invented by envy and too lightly adopted by philosophers. I, on the contrary, maintain that they ought to be praised in their lifetime if they merit it; but jealousy and calumny, roused against their virtue or their talent, labour to degrade them if any one ventures to bear testimony to them. It is unjust criticism that they should fear to hazard, not sincere praise.

  Luc de Clapiers

  Men, Unjust Criticism, Envy

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• There's no free will," says the philosopher; "To hang is most unjust." "There is no free will," assents the officer; "We hang because we must.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Philosopher, Free Will, Officers

  Ambrose Bierce (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Ambrose Bierce (Illustrated)”, p.1211, Delphi Classics

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• How often are we forced to charge fortune with partiality towards the unjust!

  Henry Clay

  Fortune, Partiality

  Letter, 4 December 1801

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• Everyone who comes within the reach of your knowledge is, as it were, on trial in your mind. It is easy to be an unjust, ignorant, and even a merciless judge. The real character of the actions of others depends in great measure on the motives that prompt them, and these motives are unknown to you.

  Lawrence G. Lovasik

  Motivation, Real, Character

  Lawrence G. Lovasik (1999). “The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time”, p.52, Sophia Institute Press

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• Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions without having yet obtained the victory as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others those attempts which he neglects himself.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Passion, Journey, Men

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• As a rule, it was the pleasure-haters who became unjust.

  W. H. Auden

  Healing, Pleasure

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• Man is unjust, but God is just; and finally justice triumphs.

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  Men, Justice, Triumph

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, J. D. McClatchy (2000). “Poems and Other Writings”, p.70, Library of America

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• RETRIBUTION, n. A rain of fire-and-brimstone that falls alike upon the just and such of the unjust as have not procured shelter by evicting them.

  Ambrose Bierce

  Rain, Fall, Fire

  Ambrose Bierce (2012). “The Devil's Dictionary”, p.107, Courier Corporation

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• Injustice arises either from precipitation, or indolence, or from a mixture of both. - The rapid and slow are seldom just; the unjust wait either not at all, or wait too long.

  Johann Kaspar Lavater

  Long, Waiting, Mixtures

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• Every man of character will have that character questioned. Every man of honor and courage will be faced with unjust criticism, but never forget that unjust criticism has no impact whatsoever upon the truth. And the only sure way to avoid criticism is to do nothing and be nothing.

  Andy Andrews

  Character, Men, Impact

  Andy Andrews (2005). “The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success”, p.124, Thomas Nelson

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• And it is characteristic of man that he alone has any sense of good and evil, of just and unjust, and the like, and the association of living beings who have this sense makes family and a state.

  Aristotle

  Men, Evil, Association

  Aristotle (2016). “Politics”, p.16, Aristotle

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• At worst, is not this an unjust world, full of nothing but beasts of prey, four-footed or two-footed?

  Thomas Carlyle

  Two, World, Four

  Thomas Carlyle, Chris Vanden Bossche (2002). “Historical Essays”, p.68, Univ of California Press

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• The words of the double-tongued are as if they were harmless, but they reach even to the inner part of the bowels. Praise be to the Lord, who distinguishes our cause and delivers us from the unjust and deceitful man.

  Muriel Spark

  Men, Deception, Causes

  Muriel Spark (1995). “The novels of Muriel Spark”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• Pain is unjust, and all the arguments That cannot soothe it only rouse suspicion.

  Jean Racine

  Pain, Suffering, Argument

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• It is difficult not to be unjust to what one loves.

  Oscar Wilde

  One Love, Difficult

  Oscar Wilde (2016). “Aphorisms”, p.32, Oscar Wilde

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• It is a hopeless endeavour to unite the contrarieties of spring and winter; it is unjust to claim the privileges of age, and retain the play-things of childhood.

  Samuel Johnson

  Spring, Winter, Play

  Samuel Johnson, Arthur Murphy (1837). “The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL. D.: With an Essay on His Life and Genius /c by Arthur Murphy, Esq”, p.88

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• Destroy all creatures for thy sport or gust, Yet cry, if man's unhappy, God's unjust.

  Alexander Pope

  Sports, Men, Unhappy

  Alexander Pope, William Lisle Bowles, William Warburton, Joseph Warton (1806). “The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq: Essay on man. Moral essays. An essay on satire”, p.27

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• Neutrality in things good or evil is both odious and prejudicial; but in matters of an indifferent nature is safe and commendable. Herein taking of parts maketh sides, and breaketh unity. In an unjust cause of separation, he that favoreth both parts may perhaps have least love of either side, but hath most charity in himself.

  Joseph Hall

  Evil, Unity, Neutrality

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• The federal sentencing guidelines should be revised downward. By contrast to the guidelines, I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences. In too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are unwise and unjust.

  Anthony Kennedy

  Accepting, Should, Guidelines

  "Rehnquist slams Congress over reducing sentencing discretion" by Bill Mears, www.cnn.com. January 1, 2004.

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• But veteran lawmakers torn apart by PTSD don't have a choice about being Exhibit A in the case against Washington politics. When you see what can happen to a page or a junior congressman, it passes on in a very real way, not in a history-class sense, that reality of what political power really is, .. Who are we to impose this emotional albatross on public servants? As a nation, we pretend to elect our leaders. It seems unjust to make them a special class to suffer for our sins over wrongheaded laws, or pay a continuing emotional price for securing their future careers.

  Leon Kass

  Real, Emotional, Class

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