"The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance."

John Rawls Philosophy See all quotes by John Rawls →

React to this quote

More by John Rawls

“Justice does not require that men must stand idly by while others destroy the basis of their existence.”

“The hazards of the generalized prisoner's dilemma are removed by the match between the right and the good.”

“We must not be enticed by mathematically attractive assumptions into pretending that the contingencies of men's social positions and the asymmetries of their situations somehow even out in the end. Rather we must choose our conception of justice fully recognizing that this is not and cannot be the case.”

“Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Original Position by Fred D'Agostino”

“The extreme nature of dominant-end views is often concealed by the vagueness and ambiguity of the end proposed.”

“That persons have opposing interests and seek to advance their own conception of the good is not at all the same thing as their being moved by envy and jealousy.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Large newspapers are routinely censored by legal costs. It is time this stopped. It is time a country said, enough is enough, justice must be seen, history must be preserved, and we will give shelter …"

— Julian Assange

Military1971

#justice

"No one should be judged by the actions of others!"

— Richard Sherman (American football)

Medicine1988

#justice

"It’s a violation of international law. Not just OAS charter, but also UN Charter and basic, fundamental tenets of international law, rights to sovereignty, self determination and non intervention."

— Eva Golinger

Law1973

#justice

"It would be some time before I fully realized that the United States sees little need for diplomacy; power is enough. Only the weak rely on diplomacy. This is why the weak are so deeply concerned with…"

— Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Politics1922–2016

#justice