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William Blackstone Quotes

Jurist

William Blackstone, a British jurist, was born on July 10, 1723, and died on February 14, 1780. He is a significant figure in the history of British law, known for his systematic compilation and exposition of the common law of England.

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Famous William Blackstone Quotes

“And these great natural rights may be reduced to three principal or primary articles: the right of personal security; the right of personal liberty; and the right of private property; because as there is no other known method of compulsion, or of abridging man's natural free will, but by an infringement or diminution of one or other of these important rights, the preservation of these, inviolate, may justly be said to include the preservation of our civil immunities in their largest and most extensive sense.”

Source: Blackstone's Commentaries systematically abridged and adapted to the existing state of the law and constitution, with great additions. By Samuel Warren

“And, lastly, to vindicate these rights, when actually violated and attacked, the subjects of England are entitled, in the first place, to the regular administration and free course of justice in the courts of law; next to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redress of grievances; and, lastly, to the right of having and using arms for self preservation and defense.”

Source: Commentaries on the Laws of England: Of the Rights of People

“The public good is in nothing more essentially interested, than in the protection of every individual's private rights.”

Individual Liberty Rights Internet Protection Free Speech Public Good

Book:Commentaries on the Laws of England

Source: Commentaries on the Laws of England

“The third absolute right, inherent in every Englishman, is that of . . . the sacred and inviolable rights of private property.”

Rights Thirds Absolutes Sacred Property Inherent Englishmen Private Property

Author:William Blackstone

“Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal laws to be inviolate. On the contrary, no human legislature has power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture.”

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Book:Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books

Source: Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books