Justice is the first virtue of social institutions.
Interpretation
Justice is fundamental to any fair system of society.
This quote by John Rawls emphasizes the importance of justice as the foundational principle upon which social institutions should be built. It suggests that just practices and fair treatment must be prioritized to ensure that society operates in a coherent and equitable manner, serving as a benchmark for evaluating the legitimacy of various social structures.
In practice
In a discussion on the importance of fairness in the legal system, one might quote, 'Justice is the first virtue of social institutions.'
The perspective of eternity is not a perspective from a certain place beyond the world, nor the point of view of a transcendent being; rather it is a certain form of thought and feeling that rational persons can adopt within the world ... Purity of heart, if one could attain it, would be to see clearly and to act with grace and self-command from this point of view.
The bad man desires arbitrary power. What moves the evil man is the love of injustice.
The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.
The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted, but only to cover the costs of training and education and for using their endowments in ways that help the less fortunate as well.
The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts.
Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic.
Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun.
It seems important to find ways of reminding ourselves that most 'familiarity' is meditated and delusive.
The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.
I don't think you should have to try to be nice, I think most people are nice. I think being cheerful and nice is just a politeness.
Of all the communities available to us, there is not one I would want to devote myself to except for the society of the true seekers, which has very few living members at any one time.
Remember that you will create peace only when you are peaceful.
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