Gathering from greats such as Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Émile Durkheim, and others, we come to a list of quotes on the topic of justice that should serve as a guide to any Web3 community seeking to establish its own constitution. The quotes in the list below are organized by the subject’s date of birth. Let’s get to it!
Plato
- “… in a State which is ordered with a view to the good of the whole we should be most likely to find justice…” – Plato
Aristotle
- “… justice is often thought to be the greatest of excellences [and], alone of the excellences, is thought to be another’s good…” – Aristotle
Cicero
- “… justice… is the crowning glory of the virtues… The foundation of justice… is good faith, that is, truth and fidelity to promises and agreements.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
- “Injustice often arises… through chicanery, that is, through an over-subtle and even fraudulent construction of the law. This it is that gave rise to the now familiar saw, ‘More law, less justice.’” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
- “But let us remember that we must have regard for justice even towards the humblest.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
- “Justice is… in every way to be cultivated and maintained, both for its own sake (for otherwise it would not be justice) and for the enhancement of personal honour and glory… If, therefore, anyone wishes to win true glory, let him discharge the duties required by justice.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus Aurelius
- “… tolerance is a part of justice… justice of action is the only wisdom.” – Marcus Aurelius
Jean Bodin
- “… justice is the end of the law [and is] always the principle foundation of any commonwealth.” – Jean Bodin
Thomas Hobbes
- “The safety of the people, requireth… that justice be equally administered to all degrees of people…” – Thomas Hobbes
- “… justice dependeth on antecedent covenant…” – Thomas Hobbes
Blaise Pascal
- “Justice without strength is powerless. Strength without justice is tyrannical.” – Blaise Pascal
Montesquieu
- “The formalities of justice are necessary to liberty.” – Montesquieu
David Hume
- “But tho’ it be possible for men to maintain a small uncultivated society without government, ‘tis impossible they shou’d maintain a society of any kind without justice, and the observance of those… fundamental laws concerning the stability of possession, its translation by consent, and the performance of promises.” – David Hume
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “To be just, one must be severe: tolerating wickedness, when one has the right and power to repress it, is being wicked oneself.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Adam Smith
- “The establishment of perfect justice, of perfect liberty, and of perfect equality, is the very simple secret which most effectually secures the highest degree of prosperity to all.” – Adam Smith
- “Justice is never administered gratis.” – Adam Smith
Immanuel Kant
- “… let justice reign even if all the rogues in the world perish because of it…” – Immanuel Kant
The Federalist Papers
- “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” – The Federalist Papers
John Stuart Mill
- “If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, then he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.” – John Stuart Mill
Émile Durkheim
- “… justice alone is needful for the smooth functioning of social life…; Justice is filled with charity…; justice… is the necessary accompaniment to every kind of solidarity. It is necessarily encountered everywhere men live a life in common…; The task of the most advanced societies may… be said to be a mission for justice…; Just as the ancient peoples had above all a common faith to live by, so do we have a need for justice.”- Émile Durkheim
Bertrand de Jouvenel
- “… the first requirement in an authority is to be a manifest and immediate presence… The more distant that an authority is, the more it needs a halo, or, if no halo is available, the more policemen it will need.” – Bertrand de Jouvenel
- “The man who has dedicated himself to the success of the project, the master builder, no longer has any freedom: his conduct is now determined altogether by the constraining force of the end.” – Bertrand de Jouvenel
- “In every age justice has been called the keystone of the social edifice.” – Bertrand de Jouvenel
John Rawls
- “… justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others.” – John Rawls
Final Thoughts
This collection of wisdom spanning over two millennia reveals that the pursuit of justice is not merely a philosophical exercise, but a practical necessity for any functioning society. From Plato’s vision of justice serving the common good to Rawls’ insistence that individual freedoms cannot be sacrificed for collective benefit, these thinkers provide a roadmap for building equitable systems.
For those crafting constitutions for digital communities, these insights offer crucial guidance: justice must be transparent (Montesquieu’s “formalities”), equally applied (Hobbes), and fundamentally tied to the promises we make to one another (Cicero’s “good faith“). Further, as Durkheim observed, justice is the glue that holds any community together—it is “necessarily encountered everywhere men live a life in common.”
Perhaps most importantly, these quotes remind us that the work of building just systems is never complete. As The Federalist Papers noted, justice “ever has been and ever will be pursued.” In the rapidly evolving landscape of Web3, this eternal pursuit takes on new dimensions, but the fundamental principles remain unchanged: fairness, equality, transparency, and respect for individual dignity.
Thanks for reading!