Alex Gibney Quotes

Justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions.

We must liberate our concepts of justice, our laws and legal institutions from the bonds which hold a tight grip on us although they are incompatible with the needs of our century.

Are whisper networks good? That question itself is a little flat. Whisper networks arise in a vacuum of justice. They alleviate an untenable condition; they do not actually address it.

The strength of the claims of formal justice, of obedience to system, clearly depend upon the substantive justice of institutions and the possibilities of their reform.

Even if it remained for 10 more years, it is not the commission that will solve the justice situation, it is us, the Guatemalans, who must see if we truly want to fix our institutions, strengthen them and move forward.

Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust.

People need to see what's going on, and they have to be exposed to the mechanisms that can help make it right.

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

There is little more powerful than when truth joins action.

The responsibility of the attorney general is to change things and bring us closer to the ideals expressed in our founding documents.

Institutions can eventually overcome all the legal barriers erected to shield perpetrators of crimes against humanity Justice was finally done where it needed to be done – in Argentina itself.

As long as those responsible are still lurking in the shadows and this culture of silence remains, then certain sections of the community will remain insecure, intimidated and live in fear…. If we succumb to pardoning these men, then we are sabotaging and undermining our own ability to act without fear or favour. We reap what we sow. We will sow a culture of coups for our children. We must therefore, uphold the Rule of Law and Justice.

Great institutions can only be reformed by stealth or by revolution.

This is an fascist society. We have to change its authoritarian structure …. And in the process we have to let a lot of people get away with crimes.

If all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government.

There is no such thing as justice—in or out of court.

Law and justice are not always the same. When they aren't, destroying the law may be the first step toward changing it.

The net of law is spread so wide, No sinner from its sweep may hide. Its meshes are so fine and strong They take in every child of wrong. O wondrous web of mystery ! Big fish alone escape from thee !

We would be in trouble as a society if there wasn't a constant pressure to make reforms and to be just.

What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures.

I get it, cops deal with a lot, but at the same time, we crave justice, and we do want to believe things are going to be all right.

They want to do the right thing, most people. For that little core that doesn't want to do the right thing and gets away with it routinely, most people want to see them get a good whupping. And I am your girl.

No individual, no organization, no government is above the law.

Our ultimate objective in learning about anything is to try to create and develop a more just society.

If you come with mercy but not justice; that's called enabling.