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Yamamoto: I told you... I'll allow no one to disrupt the peace.
Kyoraku: But you always taught us... to fight for justice.
Ukitake: It was you, master, who urged us... to become strong for that purpose!
Yamamoto: Nonsense. No personal justice takes precedence over the world's justice.
Kyoraku: But you always taught us... to fight for justice.
Ukitake: It was you, master, who urged us... to become strong for that purpose!
Yamamoto: Nonsense. No personal justice takes precedence over the world's justice.
— Bleach
Fame... justice... I'm not interested in either. A woman was murdered. I'm out to find the killer. That's all.
— Inspector Lunge, Monster
Comic Books
"Rights? Sure, I'm all for rights. But not at the expense of order."
They laugh at the law. The rich ones who buy it and twist it to their whims. The other ones, who have nothing to lose, who don't care about themselves, or other people. All the ones who think they're above the law, or outside it, or beyond it. They know all the law is good for is to keep good people in line. And they all laugh. They laugh at the law. But they don't laugh at me.
Gun. No license. I checked. Very bad.
— Rorschach, Watchmen
No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise.
— Rorschach, Watchmen
Film - Live-Action
You have broken the law. I did not write the law, I may even disagree with the law, but I will enforce it. Nothing will stop me from placing you in a steel cage with bars... And although I am but one man, I have thousands of brothers and sisters who would die for me, and I for them. We stand watch together. I am fate with a badge and a gun. The thin blue line, protecting the prey from the predators, the good from the bad. We are the police.
— Brian Taylor, End of Watch
Dimitri: Who are you working for? I thought you're supposed to be our lawyer.
Deputy Kovacs: Well, in point of fact, I'm the executor of the estate. In this particular situation, I represent the deceased.
Dimitri: Oh yeah?
Deputy Kovacs: Yeah. A provision for my fees was included in the-
Dimitri: Just wrap it up and don't make waves. Agreed?
Deputy Kovacs: I'm an attorney, Dimitri. I'm obligated to proceed according to the rule of law. Not agreed.
Capt. Barbossa: As per the Code, an act of war - and this be exactly that - can only be declared by the Pirate King.
Capt. Jack Sparrow: You made that up.
Barbossa: Did I now? I call upon Cap'n Teague, Keeper of the Code.
Jack: (Oh, Crap! face)
Translator: Sri Sumbhajee declares this all to be folly! Hang the code! Who-
(BLAM, puff)
Captain Teague: The Code is the law.
Capt. Jack Sparrow: You made that up.
Barbossa: Did I now? I call upon Cap'n Teague, Keeper of the Code.
Jack: (Oh, Crap! face)
Translator: Sri Sumbhajee declares this all to be folly! Hang the code! Who-
(BLAM, puff)
Captain Teague: The Code is the law.
(Sgt. Howie and a fellow officer walks past a big "Jesus Saves" graffito on a wall)
Officer: Ah, now, there's a message, Sergeant. A message for us all.
Howie: However, there is a time and place for everything. Get it removed.
Officer: Ah, now, there's a message, Sergeant. A message for us all.
Howie: However, there is a time and place for everything. Get it removed.
Winston: Two rules that cannot be broken, Johnathan. No blood on Continental grounds, and every marker must be honored. Now, while my judgment comes in the form of excommunicado, the High Table demand a more severe outcome if their traditions are refused.
John: I have no choice?
Winston: You dishonor the marker, you die. You kill the holder of the marker, you die. You run, you die. This is what you agreed to, Johnathan. Do what the man asks. Be free. Then, if you want to go after him, burn his house down, be my guest. But until then....
John: Rules.
Winston: Exactly. Rules. Without them, we live with the animals.
Literature
The way to administer a country well, is for the law for the officials to be clear; therefore one does not rely on intelligent and thoughtful men.
Justice is that which exists when all laws are enforced.
— R. Daneel Olivaw, The Caves of Steel
Inspector Javert's mental attitude was compounded of two very simple principles, admirable in themselves but which, by carrying them to extremes, he made almost evil - respect for authority and hatred of all forms of revolt against it. Theft, murder, and every other crime were to him all forms of revolt. Everybody who played any part in the running of the State, from First Minister to the garde champêtre
was invested in his eyes with a kind of mystical sanctity, and he felt nothing but contempt, aversion and disgust for those who, only if only once, transgressed beyond the bounds of law. His judgements were absolute, admitting no exceptions. [...] He would have arrested his own father escaping from prison and denounced his mother for breaking parole, and he would have done it with a glow of conscious rectitude.
was invested in his eyes with a kind of mystical sanctity, and he felt nothing but contempt, aversion and disgust for those who, only if only once, transgressed beyond the bounds of law. His judgements were absolute, admitting no exceptions. [...] He would have arrested his own father escaping from prison and denounced his mother for breaking parole, and he would have done it with a glow of conscious rectitude.Sins may be forgiven, but crimes must be punished.
— The High Septon, A Song of Ice and Fire
It is not a question of wanting. The throne is mine, as Robert's heir. That is law. After me, it must pass to my daughter, unless Selyse should finally give me a son. I am king. Wants do not enter into it. I have a duty to my daughter. To the realm. Even to Robert. He loved me but little, I know, yet he was my brother. The Lannister woman gave him horns and made a motley fool of him. She may have murdered him as well, as she murdered Jon Arryn and Ned Stark. For such crimes there must be justice. Starting with Cersei and her abominations. But only starting. I mean to scour that court clean. As Robert should have done after the Trident.
— Stannis Baratheon, A Song of Ice and Fire
I will hold the law above all else.
— Third Ideal of the Skybreakers, The Stormlight Archive
Without the law, there is nothing. You will subject yourself to their rules, and accept the dictates of justice. It is all we have, the only sure thing in this world.
— Nalan'Elin, Herald of Justice, The Stormlight Archive
Dalinar: Any innocent is too many.
Taravangian: You say that. Many people do, but our laws will claim innocent men - for all judges are flawed, as is our knowledge. Eventually, you will execute someone who does not deserve it. This is the burden society must carry in exchange for order.
Dalinar: I hate that.
Taravangian: Yes. I do too. But it's not a matter of morality, is it? It's a matter of thresholds. How many guilty may be punished before you'd accept one innocent casualty? A thousand? ten thousand? A hundred? When you consider, all calculations are meaningless except one. Has more good been done than evil? If so, the law has done its job.
Illyan: Damn. Captain Negri was right.
Vorkosigan: He usually is. What was the instance?
Illyan: He said that permitting private judgements to turn my duty in the smallest manner would be like getting a little bit pregnant - the consequences would very soon get beyond me.
Vorkosigan: He usually is. What was the instance?
Illyan: He said that permitting private judgements to turn my duty in the smallest manner would be like getting a little bit pregnant - the consequences would very soon get beyond me.
— Barrayar
She remembered her first impression of [Galad], long ago when she married his father. Galad had always been solemn, quick to point out when someone did something wrong. But unlike other children, he had not used his knowledge as a weapon. She should have seen. She should have seen that he would have been attracted to The White Cloaks for their vision of a world that was black and white. Could she had prepared him better? Shown him that the world was not black and white - it was not even grey. It was full of colors that sometimes didn't even fit in any spectrum of morality.''
Live-Action TV
Want? Agree? That has nothing to do with it. The law is the law.
— Michael Garibaldi, Babylon 5
Sheldon: Any contract I sign is enforced by my own personal code of ethics.
Amy: And his obsessive compulsive disorder.
Sheldon: Yeah, that too.
Amy: And his obsessive compulsive disorder.
Sheldon: Yeah, that too.
I don't give a damn about anything except putting the right people in jail.
— Jack McCoy, Law & Order
The code is the code. The law bends for no one.
— King Uther, Merlin
Bobby Donnell: You're putting the system before someone's life here!
Judge Hiller: You bet I am, that's why I wear the robe!
Judge Hiller: You bet I am, that's why I wear the robe!
— The Practice, "Pilot"
Commander Benjamin Sisko: Mister Odo, you're not going to take the law into your own hands.
Odo: The law? Commander, laws change depending on who's making them. Cardassians one day, Federation the next. But justice is justice.
— Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "A Man Alone"
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Minister, government isn't about good and evil, it's only about order or chaos.
Jim Hacker: And it's in order for Italian terrorists to get British bombs? And you don't care?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: It's not my job to care. That's what politicians are for. My job is to carry out government policy.
Jim Hacker: Even if you think it's wrong?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Well, almost all government policy is wrong, but frightfully well carried out.
— Yes, Minister, "The Whisky Priest"
Music
But what can I say?
Rules must be obeyed.
The judges will decide;
The likes of me abide.
Rules must be obeyed.
The judges will decide;
The likes of me abide.
— ABBA, "The Winner Takes It All"
The judge looked over his left shoulder
he said "Fair maid I'm sorry"
he said "Fair maid you must be gone
for I cannot pardon Geordie."
he said "Fair maid I'm sorry"
he said "Fair maid you must be gone
for I cannot pardon Geordie."
— "Geordie"
Poetry
Whether ye rise for the sake of a creed,
Or riot in hope of spoil,
Equally will I punish the deed,
Equally check the broil;
Nowise permitting injustice at all
From whatever doctrine it springs-
But — whether ye follow Priapus or Paul,
I care for none of these things!"
Or riot in hope of spoil,
Equally will I punish the deed,
Equally check the broil;
Nowise permitting injustice at all
From whatever doctrine it springs-
But — whether ye follow Priapus or Paul,
I care for none of these things!"
— Rudyard Kipling, "Gallio's Song"
Tabletop Games
A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. [...] Lawful neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you are reliable and honorable without being a zealot.
— Dungeons & Dragons: Player's Handbook, 3.5th Edition
"I will uphold the law, and no manner of foe will stop me."
"Let the knowledge of absolute law inspire you to live a life of absolute order."
Order begets order. My word is my bond. Chaos will destroy the world. Respect rank. I live by my code and I'll die by my code. Tradition must continue. Order is the foundation of all culture. I am my own judge.
— Introduction to Lawful Neutral, Ultimate Campaign
The world is ruled by order. Without law, all is cacophony and madness.
— Motto of the Archangel Dominic, In Nomine
Theatre
When you steal somebody's money
Screw his daughter or his wife
You don't think of repercussions
As you tap dance through your life
Though you smile like you're a hero
You're an outlaw through and through
But the odds are in my favor man
And one day I'll catch you
So don't sneak into a movie
Or the red light to sell some pot
It's all the same to me
You're either guilty or you're not
You're the only one we wanted
If every time we failed the earth
The world would be total chaos
It's already on the verge
Yes it's laws that keep us human
Cause without them winners lose
And the game ain't worth winning
The game ain't worth winning
The game ain't worth winning
If we're breaking all the rules
Screw his daughter or his wife
You don't think of repercussions
As you tap dance through your life
Though you smile like you're a hero
You're an outlaw through and through
But the odds are in my favor man
And one day I'll catch you
So don't sneak into a movie
Or the red light to sell some pot
It's all the same to me
You're either guilty or you're not
You're the only one we wanted
If every time we failed the earth
The world would be total chaos
It's already on the verge
Yes it's laws that keep us human
Cause without them winners lose
And the game ain't worth winning
The game ain't worth winning
The game ain't worth winning
If we're breaking all the rules
— Catch Me If You Can the musical, "Don't Break the Rules"
William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Video Games
"I am the gatekeeper. Protecting the Azure is everything. Good and Evil does not exist."
— Es regarding Izayoi, Blazblue Central Fiction
"Ah, the Codex. If it's in there, we have to abide it. If it's not, it's not important."
— Veronica, Fallout: New Vegas
"So long as Grust continues to support Dolhr's ambitions, it does not matter what I know or think. I am a knight; I have a duty to fight for my motherland's glory till the very end."
— Camus, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
"Ashera is neither kind nor loving to the beings of this world. Neither is she holy nor base, angel nor devil. She is... restriction. Order. Stability. Past. Certainty. Restraint. She is Ashera."
— Yune, the goddess of chaos, about Ashera, the goddess of order, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
"I'm a cop. Which means I can commandeer a boat, and it's legal. You steal a boat... I'll haul your ass in."
— Reggie Rowe, inFAMOUS: Second Son
"Learn to overcome the crass demands of flesh and bone, for they warp the matrix through which we perceive the world. Extend your awareness outward, beyond the self of body, to embrace the self of group and the self of humanity. The goals of the group and the greater race are transcendent, and to embrace them is to achieve enlightenment."
— Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Essays on Mind and Matter," Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
"As long as Muse still exists, I will follow the law of Muse. A soldier should not act on personal feelings. War is an exchange of lives, and I will not act as a soldier for other than reason of law."
— Hauser, Suikoden II
"I just want to protect the balance I've found in my life."
— Marina, Splatoon 2
Webcomics
"I can be ruthless, but I try to be fair. What will it be?"
— Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, Girl Genius, Vol. VI p. 111
The law is all that's left to hold on to in this unforgiving dust bowl. You cannot afford to loosen your black claw's grip lest justice slip through your fingers. Law is beauty. Order is peace. Judgment is the very basis for all that is pure.
— The Narrator, on the Aimless Renegade, Homestuck
"What do you know about the revolution?"
"I know that it's wrong, no matter what the administration is doing."
"You can either get off your high horse or I can shoot you off it."
"Then shoot."
"I know that it's wrong, no matter what the administration is doing."
"You can either get off your high horse or I can shoot you off it."
"Then shoot."
I certainly appreciate a man who stands by his word.
Western Animation
May you boss around all other kids with fairness.
— King Bob to his successor King Freddy II, Recess: School's Out
No one would like to celebrate your love more than I, but I'm a public servant, and not permitted to use my own judgement in any way.
—Superintendent Chalmers, The Simpsons, "Grade School Confidential", to Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel
Once something has been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
Real Life
Justice is incidental to law and order.
— J. Edgar Hoover
First, you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own respecting their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and, thirdly, you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil.
— Horatio Nelson
My responsibility was to enforce the ordinances and laws of that city and state. As I told Dr. King many times, I did not disagree with his motives or his objectives, it was his method. I believed in the courts, he believed in the streets. So I've never been classified as a segregationist, and not as an integrationist. I was administrator of the city of Albany's police department.
— Laurie Pritchett, Police Chief of Albany, Georgia
Dura lex, sed lex.
The law is harsh, but it's the law.
The law is harsh, but it's the law.
— Roman maxim
The Tsar is a father, his subjects are his children, and children ought never to reason about their parents.
— Tsarist Russian proverb
