11 Quotes by James Fitzjames Stephen

The only shape in which equality is really connected with justice is this – justice presupposes general rules. If these general rules are to be maintained at all, it is obvious that they must be applied equally to every case which satisfies their terms.

Persuasion, indeed, is a kind of force. It consists in showing a person the consequences of his actions. It is, in a word, force applied through the mind.

Power and courtly influence form an intoxicating draught even when raised to the lips of an ascetic and a saint.

Wisdom may be the ultimate arbiter, but is seldom the immediate agent in human affairs.

Thus hope, aided by imagination, makes one man a hero, another a somnambulist, and a third a lunatic; while it renders them all enthusiasts.

Originally consists in thinking for yourself, and not in thinking unlike other people.

A well-judging man will open his trunk-line of study in such a direction that, while habitually adhering to it, he may enjoy a ready access to such other fields of knowledge as are most nearly related to it.

The things which cannot be adequately represented by words are more important than those which can.

To try to make men equal by altering social arrangements is like trying to make the cards of equal value by shuffling the pack.