“Every single American can exclaim, 'Nothing justifies what they did in New York and Washington,' not even the bombs that our government has dropped on them for ten years or the embargo that has caused the deaths of so many children. That's of course true...The issue is simply an acceptance of reality and a fundamental fact of life: When governments do bad things to people, people sometimes retaliate.” PeopleYearsChildrenSometimesFactsRealityGovernmentCoursesIssuesNew YorkAcceptanceTenFundamentalsBombsJustifyBad ThingsFacts Of LifeEmbargo Author:Jacob G. Hornberger
“I fear you do not fully comprehend the danger of abridging the liberties of the people. Nothing but the sternest necessity can ever justify it. A government had better go to the extreme of toleration, than to do aught that could be construed into an interference with, or to jeopardize in any degree, the common rights of its citizens.” PeopleGovernmentCommonLibertyRightsDangerCitizensDegreesExtremesJustifyInterferenceTolerationJeopardize Book:State papers, 1861-1865 Source: State papers, 1861-1865
“Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill it teaches the whole people by example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means - to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible retributions.” PeopleIfsMenMayMeanEndsWholeGovernmentLawOrderLibertyTeachTeacherCrimeExampleTerribleIllConvictionCriminalsEvery ManCommitSecureAdministrationJustifyAnarchyContemptInvitesContagiousRetributionLiberty And JusticeCriminal LawEnds Justify The MeansConflicting Opinions Author:Louis D. Brandeis
“Liberty, as we all know, cannot flourish in a country that is permanently on a war footing, or even a near war footing. Permanent crisis justifies permanent control of everybody and everything by the agencies of central government.” KnowsWarCountryGovernmentLibertyCrisisPermanentAgencyJustifyCentral Government Author:Aldous Huxley
“In the latter case it is often government that organizes the conquest, and religion that justifies it.” GovernmentReligionCasesLatterJustifyOrganizeConquest Book:Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies Source: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies