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Law Quotes

“Many think it not only inevitable but entirely proper that liberty give way to security in times of national crisis--that, at the extremes of military exigency, inter arma silent leges. Whatever the general merits of the view that war silences law or modulates its voice, that view has no place in the interpretation and application of a Constitution designed precisely to confront war and, in a manner that accords with democratic principles, to accommodate it.”

Source: Scalia's Court: A Legacy of Landmark Opinions and Dissents

“For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. And for almost as long, some among them have derided such talk, called it a charade, insisted that war lies beyond (or beneath) moral judgment. War is a world apart, where life itself is at stake, where human nature is reduced to its elemental forms, where self-interest and necessity prevail. Here men and women do what they must to save themselves and their communities, and morality and law have no place. Inter arma silent leges: in time of war the law is silent.”

Source: Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations

“Silent enim leges inter arma (Laws are silent in times of war).”

War Law Silent Latin Rome Total War Ancient Rome Latin Proverb

Author:Marcus Tullius Cicero

“For as the law is set over the magistrate, even so are the magistrates set over the people. And therefore, it may be truly said, "that the magistrate is a speaking law, and the law is a silent magistrate.”

People May Said Law Silent Magistrates

Book:Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated)

Source: Delphi Complete Works of Cicero (Illustrated)

“Private property is held sacred in all good governments, and particularly in our own. Yet shall the fear of invading it prevent a general from marching his army over a cornfield or burning a house which protects the enemy? A thousand other instances might be cited to show that laws must sometimes be silent when necessity speaks.”

Sometimes Shows Government Might Law House Speak Enemy Thousand Protect Army Sacred Property Silent Instance Burning Private Property Invading

Author:Andrew Jackson

“Every object in the world can pass from a closed, silent existence to an oral state, open to appropriation by society, for there is no law, whether natural or not, which forbids talking about things”

World States Law Natural Existence Talking Objects Silent Appropriation

Book:Barthes: Selected Writings

Source: Barthes: Selected Writings

“The law is silent during war. [Lat., Silent leges inter arma.]”

Author:Marcus Tullius Cicero

“The orator, who may be silent without danger, may praise without difficulty and without reluctance; and posterity will confess that the character of Theodosius might furnish the subject of a sincere and ample panegyric. The wisdom of his laws and the success of his arms rendered his administration respectable in the eyes both of his subjects and of his enemies. He loved and practised the virtues of domestic life, which seldom hold their residence in the palaces of kings.”

Source: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume II: A.D. 395 to A.D. 1185 (A Modern Library E-Book)