Justice Quotes

"Democratic legitimacy requires not just fair procedures but substantive attention to outcomes and equality."

"Reconciliation with the existing order is the greatest betrayal of those who suffered under it."

"Reconciliation with the existing order is the greatest betrayal of critical thought."

"Justice cannot be achieved through force alone; it requires the consent of the governed."

"The attempt to create a society without losers is doomed to fail; the question is only who pays the price."

"We seek justice, but sometimes we must settle for stability; these are not always the same."

"Justice cannot exist where thought itself has been colonized by power."

"Justice divorced from mercy becomes tyranny."

"We are not born equal; we become equal as members of a group on the strength of our decision to guarantee ourselves mutually equal rights."

"We are responsible not only for what we do but for what we leave undone."

"We must judge the past with mercy but without illusions."

"The greatest crime is not violence but the destruction of the human capacity for moral judgment."

"The primary good that a society can distribute is the basic structure itself, the major social, political, and economic institutions and how they fit together into one unified system."

"A just society must arrange inequalities so that they benefit the least advantaged members."

"Justice as fairness rests on the idea that the principles of justice are what free and equal persons would agree to under fair conditions."

"The difference principle justifies unequal distributions only when they improve the situation of the worst off."

"Background justice requires that institutions distribute initial advantages in a way that is fair to all."

"The two principles of justice protect fundamental interests and ensure fair terms of cooperation."

"Distributive justice concerns how the main social institutions allocate fundamental rights and duties."

"Citizens who have shared in the cooperative benefits of society have duties of fairness to one another."

"A just constitutional democracy protects both majority rule and minority rights."

"Social justice concerns the entire system of institutions, not isolated acts of individuals."

"Economic institutions should be designed to ensure that inequalities work to everyone's advantage."

"Background institutions must work together to maintain just initial conditions for fair competition."

"The primary subject of justice is not individual actions but the basic social structure."

"Basic structure justice requires looking beyond individual transactions to systemic fairness."

"A just society ensures that basic goods are distributed according to fair principles, not mere market forces."

"Background inequalities must be continuously addressed to maintain fair conditions of opportunity."

"Inequalities in wealth and income must satisfy the difference principle to be just."

"Citizens have duties of fairness to support and comply with just institutions they benefit from."