Tom Lantos Quotes

People must live with the laws that we make.

The Ten Commandments are the divinely revealed law.

Most of the Ten Commandments are negative. The purpose of law is not to mandate good behavior. That concept comes from the French Revolution.

Laws are important precisely because in a democracy they reflect the attitudes and aspirations of those they govern.

Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.

His laws, whoso marks them well, are deep, and not vulgar; not made upon the spur of a particular occasion for the present, but out of providence of the future, to make the estate of his people still more and more happy; after the manner of the legislators in ancient and heroical times.

Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty.

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

While a law is in force it should be lived up to. You have a right to try to change it, and if you can persuade the majority that it should be changed then it will be changed. But you must abide by a law until it is changed or you will be flouting the fundamental things that make us a democracy and a law-abiding nation.

Laws are often made to express collective ethical principles, to establish a climate of opinion …

Let's get our civic laws right and abide by them.

Laws are to be respected.

It's not good enough to announce 'I know my rights' if you aren't prepared to accept that you have responsibilities to society and your fellow citizens as well. And if people don't live up to those responsibilities to our society, they will not be able to hide behind their rights.

There are rules and regulations, and we live in a country where the Constitution gives us rights and at the same time there are things that have to be restricted. Hence, I believe the law of the land should be adhered to.

If the law does not give you what you want, you can oppose the law, you can work to change the law, but you cannot ignore the law. So it is fundamental that the constitutions of every one of our member states are upheld and respected.

I grew up in a family where law was in the air we were breathing.

As lawmakers, we swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution.

When we tolerate violations to the Constitution, the entire moral foundation of our political system is shaken to its core.

Laws are there for a reason, and we have an obligation to follow them.

To be clear and unequivocal, I can say that Islamisation is constitutionally banned in Hungary.

If state protects the rights of people, they start respecting the state.

You can't build a society without law.

If you believe in the values of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, if you're willing to work hard and play by the rules, you are part of our family. And we're proud to be with you.

Congress is going to start tinkering with the Ten Commandments just as soon as they find someone in Washington who has read them.

Man has made 32 million laws since THE COMMANDMENTS were handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai more than three thousand years ago, but he has never improved on God's law. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS are the principles by which man may live with God and man may live with man. They are the expressions of the mind of God for His creatures. They are the charter and guide of human liberty, for there can be no liberty without the law.