ON PEACE THROUGH LAW

> "The American wants nothing so much as to know that his life as an American has meaning and purpose. What is the name of this cause? The answer is: peace through law--and freedom under law. For surely without law there can be neither peace nor freedom. We must conceive of justice as something established prior to us, 'in the beginning,' and also as something which stands out beyond us, in whose work we are privileged to participate. With this kind of concept we can go forth, both humbly and confidently, to speak to other men everywhere, inviting them, praying them to reason together, to discern the general principles which all men may hold in common and thus to proceed to make the world the lawful habitation of mankind." February 1959.

> "Our founding fathers said that they presented their case 'with a decent respect for the opinion of mankind.' That did not mean that they were entering into a sort of global popularity contest. Far from it. They knew what they believed--and to their unshakable beliefs they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. But they did want as many people as possible everywhere to know what they were doing and why. Not only then, but down through the centuries. Today we think in our devotion to liberty under law we have something useful to say to all men." July 1963.

> "I am myself convinced that the idea of justice and law is more universal, more readily understood than is the concept of political liberty. As we proceed, we will be able to show how justice must make room for liberty and how liberty lives only by and through the law. 'Give us that order which without liberty is a snare, and give us that liberty which without order is a delusion.' Those words state the terms of the great conversation of mankind." April 1964.

> "The Sermon on the Mount says: 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' It does not say blessed are the peacelovers. There's nothing special about a peacelover. 'Blessed are the peacemakers'--those who work for it, by every means, by diplomacy, by the use of force, but especially by their work to build institutions of justice and habits of reliance on law both within nations and between them." May 1965.

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