May the States be so bound to each other as forever to defy European politics. Upon that union, their consequence, their happiness, will depend. This is the first wish of a heart more truly American than words can express.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
No man can be subject to any laws, excepting those which have received the assent of himself or his representatives and which are promulgated beforehand and applied legally.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of consent and prior knowledge in the enactment of laws.
Marquis De Lafayette's quote highlights the foundational principle of democratic governance, where individuals are only bound by laws that they have agreed to, either directly or through their elected representatives. It underscores the necessity for laws to be made transparent and to have the consent of those they govern, thus promoting accountability and fairness in the legal system.
Themes
LawsConsentGovernanceDemocracyRepresentation
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate about law reform, one might say, 'As Marquis De Lafayette stated, no man can be subject to laws without consent.'
More from Marquis De Lafayette
All quotes βInsurrection is the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
True republicanism is the sovereignty of the people. There are natural and imprescriptible rights which an entire nation has no right to violate.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
The affairs of America I shall ever look upon as my first business whilst I am in Europe. Any confidence from the king and ministers, any popularity I may have among my own countrymen, any means in my power, shall be, to the best of my skill, and till the end of my life, exerted in behalf of an interest I have so much at heart.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
The exercise of natural rights has no limits but such as will ensure their enjoyment to other members of society.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is, for the people and for each portion of the people, the most sacred of the rights and the most indispensible of duties.
Marquis De LafayetteRead
Similar quotes
You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe, because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for Him: in the heart of a true lover.
Shams TabriziRead
The Miss America Pageant reinforces a belief that women are merely how they look and how they please.
Gloria SteinemRead
For the mob is always impressed by appearances and by results, and the world is composed of the mob.
Niccolo MachiavelliRead
It is sometimes said that we drink our religion with our mother's milk.
Al-GhazaliRead
The fate of an epoch that has eaten of the tree of knowledge is that it must...recognize that general views of life and the universe can never be the products of increasing empirical knowledge, and that the highest ideals, which move us most forcefully, are always formed only in the struggle with other ideals which are just as sacred to others as ours are to us.
Max WeberRead
This wasn't the person he'd thought he was, or would have chosen to be if he'd been free to choose, but there was something comforting and liberating about being an actual definite someone, rather than a collection of contradictory potential someones.
Jonathan FranzenRead