If freedom makes social progress possible, so social progress strengthens and enlarges freedom. The two are inseparable partners in the great adventure of humanity.
Robert KennedyRead
Every American has the duty to obey the law and the right to expect that the law will be enforced.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between citizens and the law, highlighting both duty and expectation.
Robert Kennedy's quote encapsulates the fundamental principles of citizenship in a democratic society, where individuals are expected to respect and obey laws while simultaneously having the rightful expectation that those laws will be upheld and enforced fairly. This creates a shared responsibility between the state and its citizens, reinforcing the importance of law as a foundation for order and justice.
Themes
LawDutyEnforcementCitizenshipJustice
In practice
Example use cases
During a civic education seminar about the importance of rule of law in society.
More from Robert Kennedy
All quotes βElections remind us not only of the rights but the responsibilities of citizenship in a democracy.
Robert KennedyRead
Within the United States, we have put great emphasis upon political freedoms. Because it has been our experience that these freedoms can lead to others.
Robert KennedyRead
It is one thing to open job opportunities. It is another to train people to fill them, or to persuade American enterprise to seek Negro as well as white applicants.
Robert KennedyRead
Our attitude towards immigration reflects our faith in the American ideal. We have always believed it possible for men and women who start at the bottom to rise as far as the talent and energy allow. Neither race nor place of birth should affect their chances.
Robert KennedyRead
The Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America - except whether we are proud to be Americans.
Robert KennedyRead
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The reasonableness of the agency of the national courts in cases in which the state tribunals cannot be supposed to be impartial, speaks for itself. No man ought certainly to be a judge in his own cause, or in any cause in respect to which he has the least interest or bias.
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For a lawyer to do less than his utmost is, I strongly feel, a betrayal of his client. Though in criminal trials one tends to focus on the defense attorney and his client the accused, the prosecutor is also a lawyer, and he too has a client: the People. And the People are equally entitled to their day in court, to a fair and impartial trial, and to justice.
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All the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary.
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Courts are too distant from the communities they put on trial.
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