John Rawls

"A just basic structure does not guarantee just transactions between individuals."

"Overlapping consensus provides stability that comprehensive doctrines cannot."

"Political power is legitimate only when exercised in ways all citizens could rationally accept."

"The concept of the person as free and equal is fundamental to liberal democracy."

"Justice must account for the burdens of judgment that make disagreement inevitable."

"A fair system of social cooperation regulates the background institutions that shape life prospects."

"The veil of ignorance abstracts from knowledge of one's particular position in society."

"Citizens' life plans cannot be pursued unless basic rights and freedoms are secure."

"The idea of a social contract is best understood as representing fairness among free persons."

"Inequality is justified only when it works to everyone's advantage, particularly the least advantaged."

"A sense of justice arises from our natural capacity to recognize the legitimacy of fair terms."

"Political justice requires that fundamental decisions be made through procedures all citizens could accept."

"The reasonable pluralism of democratic societies calls for principles all could endorse."

"Fair value of political liberty requires preventing concentrations of economic power."

"Justice demands that we abstract from knowledge of which generation we belong to."

"The basic rights that justice requires are those necessary for exercising the two moral powers."

"A well-ordered society exhibits harmony between institutional design and citizens' conceptions of justice."

"The principles of justice apply to the basic structure, not directly to individual transactions."

"Political legitimacy rests on justifiability to all citizens as free and equal persons."

"Justice as fairness is a constructivist approach that defines right independently of the good."

"The capacity for moral personality is what grounds equal citizenship and basic rights."

"A just society provides fair opportunities for all citizens to develop and exercise their capacities."

"The circumstances of justice obtain when people must cooperate despite conflicts of interest."

"Civil society requires that citizens respect the reasonable pluralism necessary in free societies."

"The worst off in society must have the best possible circumstances under a just arrangement."

"Democratic equality requires that citizens see each other as equal participants in social cooperation."

"A conception of justice guides the basic structure and coordinates citizens' expectations."

"The original position represents the standpoint of free and equal citizens in a democratic society."

"Justice forbids using citizens as mere means for advancing aggregate social welfare."

"The capability to form and pursue a conception of the good life is fundamental to personhood."