Theme
Justice
Fairness, rights, and standing against wrong.
Every quote here is provenance-checked. AI will happily put a fake quote on a beautiful slide — these are the ones you can actually use, with the right name on them.
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Verified quotes about justice
Each is traced to a real source and correctly credited. ✓ Free to use = public domain, cleared for commercial reuse. Open one for a paste-ready credit line and its reuse status.
“But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream”
“Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation can never effect a reform”
“Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists”
“Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do”
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you”
“For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all”
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction”
“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble”
“I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!”
“I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”
“If we don't end war, war will end us”
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
“Organize, agitate, educate must be our war cry”
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long retain it”
“Well-behaved women seldom make history”
“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist”
“If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back”
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”
“The ballot is stronger than the bullet”
No public-domain quotes on this theme yet — try another, or use an in-copyright one with attribution.
Don’t get caught out
Commonly shared about justice — but misattributed
Popular justice lines that get pinned on the wrong name. If you use one, credit it correctly.
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine”
ReallyThomas Jefferson · not Thomas Jefferson
“A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them”
ReallyGeorge Washington · not George Washington
“A moral system valid for all is basically immoral”
ReallyFriedrich Nietzsche · not Friedrich Nietzsche
“A revolution is coming — a revolution which will be peaceful if we are wise enough; compassionate if we care enough; successful if we are fortunate enough — but a revolution which is coming whether we will it or not”
ReallyRobert F. Kennedy · not John F. Kennedy
“An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind”
ReallyMahatma Gandhi · not Mahatma Gandhi
“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”
ReallyA traditional Japanese proverb
“Collapsing any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or long-range missiles. It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in exams by students. The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation”
ReallyUnknown — an anonymous circulating text · not Nelson Mandela
“Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch”
ReallyAnonymous (falsely credited to Benjamin Franklin) · not Benjamin Franklin
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”
ReallyOrigin unknown · not Thomas Jefferson
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”
ReallyNicholas Klein · not Mahatma Gandhi
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master”
ReallyGeorge Washington · not George Washington
“Hate destroys the hater”
ReallyAnonymous (a folk proverb, attested by 1897) · not Martin Luther King Jr.
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison”
ReallyLouis-Charles Jourdan · not Victor Hugo
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”
ReallyEvelyn Beatrice Hall · not Voltaire
“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men”
ReallyDmitri Merezhkovsky · not Leonardo da Vinci
“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”
ReallyJessica Dovey (opening line) & Martin Luther King Jr. (the rest) · not Martin Luther King Jr.
“If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it”
ReallyUnknown — an anonymous activist slogan · not Mark Twain
“If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it”
ReallyZora Neale Hurston