Mankind Will Not Be Reasoned Out Of

[self-defense Is] Justly Called The Primary Law Of Nature, So It Is Not, Neither Can It Be In Fact, Taken Away By The Laws Of Society.

Every Wanton And Causeless Restraint Of The Will Of The Subject, Whether Practiced By A Monarch, A Nobility, Or A Popular Assembly, Is A Degree Of Tyranny.

Law, In Its Most General And Comprehensive Sense, Signifies A Rule Of Action; And Is Applied Indiscriminately To All Kinds Of Action, Whether Animate, Or Inanimate, Rational Or Irrational. Thus We Say, The Laws Of Motion, Of Gravitation, Of Optics, Or Mechanics, As Well As The Laws Of Nature And Of Nations. And It Is That Rule Of Action, Which Is Prescribed By Some Superior, And Which The Inferior Is Bound To Obey.

The Public Good Is In Nothing More Essentially Interested, Than In The Protection Of Every Individual's Private Rights.

The Most Universal And Effectual Way Of Discovering The True Meaning Of Law, When The Words Are Dubious, Is By Considering The Reason And Spirit Of It; Or The Cause Which Moved The Legislator To Enact It. For When This Reason Ceased, The Law Itself Ought Likewise To Cease With It.