Justify

Famous quotes containing the word justify:

    A pun does not commonly justify a blow in return. But if a blow were given for such cause, and death ensued, the jury would be judges both of the facts and of the pun, and might, if the latter were of an aggravated character, return a verdict of justifiable homicide.
    Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)

    There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets ours norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.
    Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)

    And malt does more than Milton can
    To justify God’s ways to man.
    —A.E. (Alfred Edward)