Julius Caesar Quotes
If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. De Officiis. Translated by Walter Miller, Harvard University Press, 1913, p. 293.
Justice Black would quote the 1st Amendment—"Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press"—then slam his hand on his desk and exclaim:
The king summoned all his judges before him and stated that since they were his surrogates, he could remove cases at will from their jurisdiction and decide them himself. Sir Edward Coke, a leading jurist of the day, dissented and urged that since his Majesty was not learned in the law, he should leave legal matters to his judges and lawyers.
FULL QUOTE: “I have studied the law, and say again, I defy the united authorities of the earth to show where this people have not been loyal, wherein they have not proved loyal, in Germany, in France, in England, or in the United States; for they are the best people upon the face of the earth to observe the law and keep order. I want to live perfectly above the law, and make it my servant, instead of its being my master. That is the way to live; to be humble before God, and observe the laws; for there is no necessity of breaking the laws in America, in keeping the commandments of God. When the law is our master, the yoke is hard to bear; but when it is our servant, it works easy; whereas, if it be our master, we are continually compelled and driven by it.”
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.
