If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.
Julius CaesarRead
Arms and laws do not flourish together.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Laws and governance require strength to be effective, but too much reliance on force can undermine justice.
This quote by Julius Caesar highlights the delicate balance between the rule of law and the use of military power or force. It suggests that while laws are essential for a civilized society, they must be supported by strength to be upheld, yet if one leans too heavily on arms, it may lead to a breakdown of the lawful order that those arms are meant to protect.
Themes
LawStrengthGovernmentJusticeOrder
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on governance, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of maintaining the rule of law.
More from Julius Caesar
All quotes βWar gives the right to the conquerors to impose any condition they please upon the vanquished.
Julius CaesarRead
I have always reckoned the dignity of the republic of first importance and preferable to life.
Julius CaesarRead
As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.
Julius CaesarRead
All bad precedents begin as justifiable measures.
Julius CaesarRead
No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.
Julius CaesarRead
Similar quotes
Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion go hand in hand.
Bertrand RussellRead
there is a loneliness in this world so great that you can see it in the slow movement of the hands of a clock
Charles BukowskiRead
A democracy is a state which recognizes the subjection of the minority to the majority, that is, an organization for the systematic use of violence by one class against the other, by one part of the population against another.
Vladimir LeninRead
To drop into being means to recognize your interconnectedness with all life, and with being itself. Your very nature is being part of larger and larger spheres of wholeness.
Jon Kabat-ZinnRead
If people become accustomed to lying, they will unconsciously commit every possible wrong deed. Before they can act wickedly, they must lie and once they begin to lie they will act wickedly without concern.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Life is not about finding our limitations, it's about finding our infinity.
Herbie HancockRead