QuoteProject
If it be not a sin, an open, flagrant violation of all the rules of justice and humanity, to hold these slaves in bondage, it is indeed folly to put ourselves to any trouble and expense in order to free them.
Samuel Hopkins
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote questions the morality of maintaining slavery while considering the efforts to abolish it.

Samuel Hopkins' quote critiques the hypocrisy of a society that condones slavery while simultaneously discussing the moral obligations to free enslaved individuals. It highlights the contradiction of deeming slavery a 'flagrant violation' of justice and humanity while not taking genuine action towards its abolition. The emphasis lies on the folly of expending resources to free individuals from an institution that should not exist in the first place, challenging the ethical fabric of society.

Themes

SlaveryJusticeMoralityHypocrisyFreedom

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion on the historical impact of slavery at a university seminar.

Similar quotes

The laws of changeless justice bind oppressor and oppressed; and, close as sin and suffering joined we march to fate abreast.
John Greenleaf WhittierRead
The risk of racial prejudice infecting a capital sentencing proceeding is especially serious in light of the complete finality of the death sentence.
Byron WhiteRead
While mass incarceration is a national crisis, it was built locally.
James Forman, Jr.Read
You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe that you have been completely fair. We seek not just legal equity but human ability, not just equality as a right and a theory but equality as a fact and equality as a result.
Lyndon B. JohnsonRead
The prosecution has an ethical duty to ensure not just that they get a conviction when the defendant is guilty, but also to ensure that they get it by means of fair trial, and that means a fair trial for the defense as well as the prosecution.
Marcia ClarkRead
Justice has taken its course and the authority and legitimacy of the legal process must be respected.
Kofi AnnanRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.