The King himself should be under no man, but under God and the Law.
Edward CokeRead
It is the worst oppression, that is done by colour of justice
Interpretation
True injustice often masquerades as justice itself, leading to greater oppression.
Edward Coke's quote highlights the insidious nature of oppression that is disguised as justice. This indicates that the systems and institutions intended to uphold justice can sometimes perpetuate the very inequalities they are meant to eradicate, emphasizing the need for vigilance and critical examination of those in power.
In practice
Using this quote during a discussion on systemic racism in a community meeting.
The King himself should be under no man, but under God and the Law.
For a man's house is his castle, et domus sua cuique tutissimum refugium [and one's home is the safest refuge to everyone].
There be three kinds of unhappie men. 1. Qui scit & non docet, Hee that hath knowledge and teacheth not. 2. Qui docet & non vivit, He that teacheth, and liveth not thereafter. 3. Qui nescit, & non interrogat, He that knoweth not, and doth not enquire to understand.
No man can be a compleat Lawyer by universalitie of knowledge without experience in particular cases, nor by bare experience without universalitie of knowledge; he must be both speculative & active, for the science of the laws, I assure you, must joyne hands with experience.
So as grave and learned men may doubt, without any imputation to them; for the most learned doubteth most, and the more ignorant for the most part are the more bold and peremptory.
Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason - the law which is perfection of reason.
I would by all means have men beware, lest Γsop's pretty fable of the fly that sate [sic] on the pole of a chariot at the Olympic races and said, 'What a dust do I raise,' be verified in them. For so it is that some small observation, and that disturbed sometimes by the instrument, sometimes by the eye, sometimes by the calculation, and which may be owing to some real change in the heaven, raises new heavens and new spheres and circles.
The beauty of it is that we have to content ourselves with the recognition of the miracle, beyond which there is no legitimate way out.
The dog is the most faithful of animals and would be much esteemed were it not so common. Our Lord God has made His greatest gifts the commonest.
The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.
Our life is half natural and half technological. Half-and-half is good. You cannot deny that high-tech is progress. We need it for jobs. Yet if you make only high-tech, you make war. So we must have a strong human element to keep modesty and natural life.
If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.
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