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Civil Laws

EXTRACT FROM SOME NOTES FOUND AMONG A LAWYER'S PAPERS, WHICH MAYBE MERIT EXAMINATION.

Let the punishments of criminals be useful. A hanged man is good for nothing, and a man condemned to public works still serves the country, and is a living lesson.

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Let all laws be clear, uniform and precise: to interpret laws is almost always to corrupt them.

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Let nothing be infamous save vice.

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Let taxes be always proportional.

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Let the law never be contradictory to custom: for if the custom be good, the law is worthless.

Literature Network » Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire » Philosophical Dictionary » Civil Laws