"In its wisdom, the law said: No man shall be the judge of his own cause. The law, nothing but reason, took judicial notice of man's nature, of how far his conscience could guide him against his interest. For the slake of others, for his own sake, the law would not let him be led into temptation. In its wisdom, the law aimed only at certainty, could not, did not, really hope to get there. This science, as inexact as medicine, must do its justice with the imprecision of wisdom, the pragmatism of a long, a mighty experience. Those balances were to weigh, not what was just in general, but which might be just between these actual adversaries."
React to this quote
More by James Gould Cozzens
See allResonant Thoughts
"Well may we be dazed by the horrific metamorphosis. Dark days are upon us. The pendulum of civilization trembles, as if to swing back to the inglorious twilight of the past. Imperialistic tendencies a…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"No no no, too late! Stop! Yeah, come on… I was allowed to challenge for like two seconds, the guy takes lik…"
— Roger Federer"They’re my officers, dammit, not my harem, Miles’s thought snarled silently. But no Barrayaran officer of D…"
— Lois McMaster Bujold"What does torture have in common with genocide, slavery and wars of aggression? They are all “jus cogens.” …"
— Marjorie Cohn"307. Hee wrongs not an old man that steales his supper from him."
— George Herbert"Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human l…"
— Pope Francis"We must recover the element of quality in our traditional pursuit of equality. We must not, in opening our …"
— Adlai Stevenson II