Justice Quotes

"Justice requires both law and the compassion to apply it fairly."

"Justice begins when I recognize the infinite alterity of the Other."

"The Other's face prohibits me from killing them, yet I may be forced to kill anyway."

"The Third party introduces justice into pure ethical relation."

"Justice requires infinite patience and finite decision."

"The widow, the orphan, and the stranger embody alterity."

"Justice requires not just law but the transformation of the human heart."

"Justice requires seeing what we instinctively wish to ignore."

"Justice requires becoming the wound we wish to heal."

"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."

"The banality of evil teaches us that ordinary people can commit extraordinary atrocities."

"To understand any society, you must understand what it does with its outcasts."

"Obedience to law is not the highest virtue; it may sometimes be a betrayal of justice."

"The right to have rights requires membership in a political community."

"Human dignity requires the possibility of action and speech."

"Morality is what binds us; immorality is what frees us."

"A just society is one that acknowledges its own impossibility."

"The false alternative which the strong man and the weak man represent opposes itself with great weight to the idea of humanity."

"Recognition of the other as a Thou is the foundation of all morality."

"The greatest sin is to be indifferent to the suffering of others."

"The face speaks to me and commands me before I can hear it."

"I am responsible for the other even before knowing who they are."

"The face of the widow, the orphan, and the stranger demands justice."

"Hospitality is not a choice but an obligation that precedes all choice."

"The other calls me into question before I can question the other."

"Justice requires that I see the face of the other in every judgment."

"The widow, the orphan, the stranger—these are the faces of the infinite."

"The face commands: thou shalt not commit murder."

"Justice begins when I recognize my responsibility exceeds my knowledge."

"The other's need precedes my right to refuse."