On the record
If they simply command justice, and forbid injustice, they add nothing to the natural authority of justice, or to men's obligation to obey it.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “If they simply command justice, and forbid injustice, they add nothing to the natural authority of justice, or to men's…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner posits that laws should not add to the authority of justice, but merely reflect it.
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More from Lysander Spooner
They do not attempt to deceive us, or mislead us, or reconcile us to their doings, by any such pretences, impostures, or insults as these.
On the contrary, they acknowledge themselves robbers, murderers, and villains, pure and simple.
When they have once taken our money, they have the decency to get out of our sight as soon as possible; they do not persist in following us, and robbing us, again and again, so long as we produce anything that they can take from us.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.