John Maynard Smith Quotes

Society cannot exist without law. Law is the bond of society: that which makes it, that which preserves it and keeps it together. It is, in fact, the essence of civil society.

Societies are not sustainable without institutions.

You can't build a society without law.

Everyone sees they cannot well live asunder, nor many together, without some rule to which all must submit.

The assumption is that the right kind of society is an organic being not merely analogous to an organic being, but actually a living structure with appetites and digestions, instincts and passions, intelligence and reason.

Freedom without rules doesn't work. And communities do not work unless they are regulated by etiquette.

The first duty of law is to keep sound the society it serves

Laws are always unstable unless they are founded on the manners of a nation; and manners are the only durable and resisting power in a people.

It is not the same thing—society and government

Those who challenge the law in one or another of its aspects weaken the whole legal structure of society. For one man to disobey a law he does not like is to invite others to disobey another law which he may regard as indispensable to his own livelihood - or life.

Law is just one public institution, but it is a cornerstone of society. When law goes, everything goes.

Normal social behavior requires that we be able to recognize identities in spite of change. Unless we can do so, there can be no human society as we know it.

The Law is one aspect of a much more concrete and encompassing relation than the relation between commanding and obeying that characterizes the imperative.

In any society that is governed by the rule of law, some form of morality is always imposed. It's inescapable.

Societies cannot move forward without law, and our constitution is the cornerstone of the law and our National Assembly is its umbrella and fortress.

The government has a responsibility to protect society, to help maintain society. That's why we have laws... The rule of law creates a set of standards for our behavior.

Do you know what we are those of us who count as pillars of society? We are society's tools, neither more nor less.

People are, well, only human. We know that. The rule of law is borne out in identifying, condemning, and punishing those who violate the standards on which we all agree. This is exactly what we do in America.

The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.

Rule of law is the most important element in any civil society.

Civilization is the making of civil persons.

The whole system of society tells you what to do.

Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.

Property with peace and order; with civil and social manners ... are good things too; and, without them, liberty is not a benefit ... not likely to continue long.