| | <blockquote>"There is a true law, a right reason, conformable to nature, universal, unchangeable, eternal, whose commands urge us to duty, and whose prohibitions restrain us from evil. Whether it enjoins or forbids, the good respect its injunctions, and the wicked treat them with indifference. This law cannot be contradicted by any other law, and is not liable either to derogation or abrogation. Neither the senate nor the people can give us any dispensation for not obeying this universal law of justice. It needs no other expositor and interpreter than our own conscience. It is not one thing at Rome and another at Athens; one thing today and another tomorrow; but in all times and nations this universal law must for ever reign, eternal and imperishable. It is the sovereign master and emperor of all beings. God himself is its author, - its promulgator, - its enforcer. He who obeys it not, flies from himself, and does violence to the very nature of man. For his crime he must endure the severest penalties hereafter, even if he avoid the usual misfortunes of the present life." - Cicero, ''De Re Publica''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tnEv-f82IUC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=There+is+a+true+law,+a+right+reason,+conformable+to+nature,+universal&source=bl&ots=CP4PWaTRmw&sig=3WiUNGpjDU-UyIjoMb1W-Akpjb4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iNmtT5jRDYTu0gHX2oS-DA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=There%20is%20a%20true%20law%2C%20a%20right%20reason%2C%20conformable%20to%20nature%2C%20universal&f=false|title=The Republic and the Laws|author=Marcus Tullius Cicero}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ky_yiNo1BAC&pg=PA270|title=The political works of Marcus Tullius Cicero, tr. by Francis Barham|author=Marcus Tullius Cicero|date=1841}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYnSfL00V5EC&pg=PA1150|title=ABA Journal Nov 1959|author=Ben W. Palmer|1959|quote=True law is right reason and in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good men in vain, though neither have any effect on the wicked ... We cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is, God, over us all, for He is the Author of this Law, its Promulgator, and its enforcing Judge. Whoever is disobedient is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of this very fact, he will suffer the worst penalties, even if he escapes what is commonly considered punishment.}}</ref></blockquote> | | <blockquote>"There is a true law, a right reason, conformable to nature, universal, unchangeable, eternal, whose commands urge us to duty, and whose prohibitions restrain us from evil. Whether it enjoins or forbids, the good respect its injunctions, and the wicked treat them with indifference. This law cannot be contradicted by any other law, and is not liable either to derogation or abrogation. Neither the senate nor the people can give us any dispensation for not obeying this universal law of justice. It needs no other expositor and interpreter than our own conscience. It is not one thing at Rome and another at Athens; one thing today and another tomorrow; but in all times and nations this universal law must for ever reign, eternal and imperishable. It is the sovereign master and emperor of all beings. God himself is its author, - its promulgator, - its enforcer. He who obeys it not, flies from himself, and does violence to the very nature of man. For his crime he must endure the severest penalties hereafter, even if he avoid the usual misfortunes of the present life." - Cicero, ''De Re Publica''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5tnEv-f82IUC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=There+is+a+true+law,+a+right+reason,+conformable+to+nature,+universal&source=bl&ots=CP4PWaTRmw&sig=3WiUNGpjDU-UyIjoMb1W-Akpjb4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iNmtT5jRDYTu0gHX2oS-DA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=There%20is%20a%20true%20law%2C%20a%20right%20reason%2C%20conformable%20to%20nature%2C%20universal&f=false|title=The Republic and the Laws|author=Marcus Tullius Cicero}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ky_yiNo1BAC&pg=PA270|title=The political works of Marcus Tullius Cicero, tr. by Francis Barham|author=Marcus Tullius Cicero|date=1841}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYnSfL00V5EC&pg=PA1150|title=ABA Journal Nov 1959|author=Ben W. Palmer|1959|quote=True law is right reason and in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good men in vain, though neither have any effect on the wicked ... We cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is, God, over us all, for He is the Author of this Law, its Promulgator, and its enforcing Judge. Whoever is disobedient is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of this very fact, he will suffer the worst penalties, even if he escapes what is commonly considered punishment.}}</ref></blockquote> |