"It is not the function of a Court of justice to enforce or give effect to moral obligations which do not carry with them legal or equitable rights."

Edward Macnaghten Politics See all quotes by Edward Macnaghten →

React to this quote

More by Edward Macnaghten

“That was putting the case in a nutshell. But it is one thing to put a case like Shelley's in a nutshell and another thing to keep it there.”

“You may not sell the cow and sup the milk.”

“To protect those who are not able to protect themselves is a duty which every one owes to society.”

“It is for the legislature to alter the law if Parliament in its wisdom thinks an alteration desirable.”

“Some confidence there must be between merchant and manufacturer. In matters exclusively within the province of the manufacturer the merchant relies on the manufacturer's skill, and he does so all the more readily when he has had the benefit of that skill before.”

“It is a public scandal when the law is forced to uphold a dishonest act.”

Resonant Thoughts

"I have said, and I believe, that potentially we have in this country a free enterprise system of radio and television which is superior to any other. But to achieve its promise, it must be both free a…"

— Edward R. Murrow

Journalism1908–1965

#justice

"I have a line in the last book about how to draw an invisible man, and it says, “I’m trying to be transparent.” I don’t actually want to be invisible, which is the dilemma of people of color, but I wo…"

— Terrance Hayes

Literature1971

#justice

"If it corrupts a society for the government to take care of the poor by violating the principle of property rights, who will take care of the poor? The answer of those who built America seems to be: "…"

— W. Cleon Skousen

Literature1913–2006

#justice

"Sultan Mahmud at first designed in his heart to go to Sijistan, but subsequently preferred engaging previously in a holy war against Hind, and he distributed arms prior to convening a council on the s…"

— Mahmud of Ghazni

Military971–1030

#justice