"Laws, when good, should be supreme; and..." - Quote by Aristotle
Laws, when good, should be supreme; and that the magistrate or magistrates should regulate those matters only on which the laws are unable to speak with precision owing to the difficulty of any general principle embracing all particulars.
More by Aristotle
“It is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that man is by nature a political animal.”
“So it is naturally with the male and the female; the one is superior, the other inferior; the one governs, the other is governed; and the same rule must necessarily hold good with respect to all mankind.”
“For though we love both the truth and our friends, piety requires us to honor the truth first.”
More on Law
“Slavery is not penal in character and planned by that law which commands the preservation of the natural order and forbids disturbance.”
“The good judge is not he who does hair-splitting justice to every allegation, but who, aiming at substantial justice, rules something intelligible of the guidance of suitors.”
“Public morals are natural complement of all laws they are by themselves an entire code.”
More on Government
“Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence.”
“I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have ... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”
“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of today.”