Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Quotes
Necessity is mightier than the law.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832, German poet & dramatist, Faust
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This problem exists even in democracies where administrations often seek to expand their power and use or create a crisis to justify the expansion of their powers.
The law was against stealing corn from a farm of field, There was a tradition in Russia that no one should be jailed for corn stealing unless he stole 5 or more ears of corn. However, many people repeatedly helped themselves to 4 ears, and the party wanted it stopped. What is fascinating is that his insistence that the law as promulgated by the Party be enforced literally without regard to issues of higher justice such as starvation and necessity, placed him in the same legal posture as the capitalist countries which also insisted that the laws be enforced and not tempered by higher moral issues of fairness. Whoever has the power to make the laws wants them to be enforced literally. Most others want them tempered by issues of justice, fairness, and necessity.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist. His works include: four novels; epic and lyric poetry; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. He is considered to be the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.
