18 Quotes by Henry James Sumner Maine

The most superficial student of Roman history must be struck by the extraordinary degree in which the fortunes of the republic were affected by the presence of foreigners, under different names, on her soil.

The most celebrated system of jurisprudence known to the world begins, as it ends, with a Code.

The Roman Code was merely an enunciation in words of the existing customs of the Roman people.

In spite of overwhelming evidence, it is most difficult for a citizen of western Europe to bring thoroughly home to himself the truth that the civilisation which surrounds him is a rare exception in the history of the world.

The Roman jurisprudence has the longest known history of any set of human institutions.

I need hardly say that the publication of the Twelve Tables is not the earliest point at which we can take up the history of law.

The movement of the progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from Status to Contract.

Law is stable the societies we are speaking of are progressive. The greater or less happiness of a people depends on the degree of promptitude with which the gulf is narrowed.

It is true that the aristocracies seem to have abused their monopoly of legal knowledge; and at all events their exclusive possession of the law was a formidable impediment to the success of those popular movements which began to be universal in the western world.