Political Quotes

Edmund Burke: Justice is grave and decorous, and in its punishments rather seems to submit to a necessity than to make a choice.

On the recordJanuary 1, 1790
Justice is grave and decorous, and in its punishments rather seems to submit to a necessity than to make a choice.
Said by
Edmund Burke

Editor's note · Context

From his critique of the French Revolution, Burke reflects on the ideal character of justice and its administration.

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They look on the frame of their commonwealth, such as it stands, to be of inestimable value; and they conceive the undisturbed succession of the crown to be a pledge of the stability and perpetuity of all the other members of our…

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