Department of Justice, Justice League, Justice clothing store, there are a lot of things that can pop into your mind when the word justice is summoned. But the word justice itself holds significant meaning, it is the qualities of golden morals, treating others with respect and humanity, and upholding what is right all bundled up into one word.
Justice has always held a vital role in humankind’s history, where there are humans there is debate and unfortunate events in dismal circumstances. Among those realities, there are also the people who refuse to let corruption and falsehood run amuck in society. And that is precisely the inspiration for these powerful quotes on justice, spoken by those who fought for what was right and kept pushing for a just world for those present and those to come.
In this article
Quotes on Justice
Justice is upholding what is right and treating other humans with humanity at no cost. These quotes about justice will open your eyes even wider and may even show you a compelling fresh perspective you weren’t aware of. Let the justice, begin!
- “There is a higher court than courts of justice, and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.” -Mahatma Gandhi
- “Somebody has to stand when other people are sitting. Somebody has to speak when everyone else is quiet.” -Bryan Stevenson
- “Although the legal and ethical definitions of right are the antithesis of each other, most writers use them as synonyms. They confuse power with goodness, and mistake law for justice.” -Charles T. Sprading
- “There really can be no peace without justice. There can be no justice without truth. And there can be no truth unless someone rises up to tell you the truth.” -Louis Farrakhan
- “People should care, quite frankly. Because if you’re silent about injustice, you’re giving consent to it.” -Mark Konrad
- “The cause of justice is the cause of humanity. Its advocates should overflow with universal goodwill. We should love this cause, for it conduces to the general happiness of mankind.” -William Godwin
- “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” -Cornel West
- “If we do not maintain justice, justice will not maintain us.” -Francis Bacon
- “If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.” -Sophocles
- “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” -Benjamin Franklin
- “Justice is never given; it is exacted and the struggle must be continuous for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political, and religious relationships.” -A. Philip Randolph
- “Justice delayed is justice denied.” -William E. Gladstone
- “It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.” -Earl Warren
- “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” -Elie Wiesel
- “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” -Reinhold Niebuhr
- “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” -Haile Selassie
- “Justice has nothing to do with victor nations and vanquished nations, but must be a moral standard that all the world’s peoples can agree to. To seek this and to achieve it – that is true civilization.” -Hideki Tojo
- “True peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice.” -Jane Addams
- “Ethics and equity and the principles of justice do not change with the calendar.” -D. H. Lawrence
- “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the opressor.” -Desmond Tutu
Quotes on Social Justice
Social Justice is more on the spectrum of justice for the everyday folks, making sure everyone’s rights are heard and protected. And barriers between classes are knocked down, providing people opportunities are resources. There’s so much to learn, and you’ll get a pretty good glimpse into this just world with these quotes on Social Justice.
- “There is no “them and us.” There is only us.” -Greg Boyle SJ
- “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.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” -James Baldwin
- “As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no one pull you so low as to hate. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.” -Martin Luther King
- “People don’t realize what’s really going on in this country. There are a lot things that are going on that are unjust. People aren’t being held accountable for. And that’s something that needs to change. That’s something that this country stands for: freedom, liberty and justice for all.” -Colin Kaepernick
- “The only true principle for humanity is justice; and justice to the feeble is protection and kindness.” -Henri-Frédéric Amiel
- “I think the first duty of society is justice.” -Alexander Hamilton
- “To be just, it is not enough to refrain from injustice. One must go further, and refuse to play it’s game: substituting love for self-interest as the driving force of society.” -Pedro Arrupe SJ
- “You don’t change the world with the ideas in your head, but with the conviction in your heart.” -Bryan Stevenson
- “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead
- “You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.” -Unknown
- “In America, your zip code or your socioeconomic status should never determine the quality of your education.” -Arne Duncan
- “Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.” -Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- “Justice is truth in action.” -Benjamin Disraeli
- “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.” -Unknown
- “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
- “By acting compassionately, by helping to restore justice and to encourage peace, we acknowledging that we are all part of one another.” -Rahm Dass
- “Courage is of no value unless accompanied by justice; yet if everyone became just, there would be no need for courage.” -Agesilaus the Second
- “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope…” -Robert Kennedy
Quotes on Social Justice and Equality
Social Justice and Equality are two crucially important qualities in humanity, especially within the past decades of humankind’s history. If these quotes on Social Justice and Equality don’t rev you up with education and empowerment to stand up for what is right, we don’t know what will! These are the voices of a bright future.
- “Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.” -Coretta Scott King
- “People, even more than things have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, redeemed; never throw out anyone.” -Audrey Hepburn
- “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural.” -Nelson Mandela
- “You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.” -William Wilberforce
- “There’s a moment when you have to choose whether to be silent or to stand up.” -Malala
- “Justice grows out of recognition of ourselves in each other — that my liberty depends on you being free too.” -Barack Obama
- “I stand for simple justice, equal opportunity, and human rights. The indispensable elements in a democratic society – and well worth fighting for.” -Helen Suzman
- “It’s a drop of water in the sea. But after this drop, the sea will never be the same.” -Mother Teresa
- “Justice has always evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of compensation. Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value. If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of the same fundamental rights and equal liberty… In short justice is another name of liberty, equality and fraternity.” -B.R. Ambedkar
- “Justice, then, is not dependent upon the law. That a society does not outlaw an activity does not mean that the activity is just…The more we act for the common good, by being inclusive and letting others speak for themselves, the more we can learn about the people whom we ought to become.” -James Keenan SJ
- “If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Unknown
- “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” -Abraham Lincoln
- “I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.” -Rosa Parks
- “May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.” -A Franciscan Benediction
- “The American people have this to learn: that where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither person nor property is safe.” -Frederick Douglass
- “Concern for our neighbor transcends the confines of national communities and has increasingly broadened its horizon to the whole world.” -Benedict XVI
- “The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them.” -Lois McMaster Bujold
- “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Who are we as human being if we ignore the suffering of others?” -Unknown
- “Only by being a man or woman for others, does one become fully human.” -Pedro Arrupe SJ
Social Justice Topics
Did these quotes on Justice get you a bit curious? Fantastic! Learn more and become educated for yourself and the world around you with these Social Justice topics that you can dive into. This is just scratching the surface of the Social Justice world, so be sure to check out these topics more if you feel drawn to some in particular!
- Racial Injustice
- LGBTQA+ Oppression
- Woman’s Rights
- Gun Violence
- Voting Rights
- Gender Equality
- Child Welfare
- Ageism
- Climate Justice
- Refugee Crisis
- Healthcare
- Wage Gaps
- Hunger Injustice
- Education Opprotonities
- Poverty Injustice
- Human Rights For ALL
- ACLU