It is a funny sort of justice whose limits are marked by a river; true on this side of the Pyrenees, false on the other. (294)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Justice varies like a river's boundary: true on one side of the Pyrenees, false on the other.
- In plain terms
- Justice is relative to place and perspective.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize that legal and moral standards differ across cultures.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What aspects of justice are universal?
- How do borders shape law?
Another view
Some universal rights challenge pure relativism.
More from Blaise Pascal
Imagination cannot make fools wise, but it makes them happy, as against reason, which only makes its friends wretched: one covers them with glory, the other wi…
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Permalink to quote #29 If we look at our work immediately after completing it, we are still too involved; if too long afterwards, we cannot pick up the thread again. (381)
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