AN EMINENTLY REASONABLE PRINCIPLE, but only if the law can be known by the average citizen who exercises appropriate diligence. For that exercise of due diligence to be possible, however, laws must be relatively few in number, rational in content, and plainly stated. If that were the case, then ignorance of the law would be vincible ignorance and thus no excuse or defense. But it is not now the case.
Category: Aphorisms and Observations
Hunger and Satiety
You should be hungry before every meal and sated after none.
Duty and Inclination
It is one's duty to control one's inclinations despite the strong inclination to dismiss one's duty.
Tough and Forebearing
It is better to be tough on oneself and forebearing toward others than the other way around.
It’s a House, not a Home
Don't talk like a realtor unless you are one. And even then . . .
The Game of Life
The game of life is 'sudden death' with the time control unknown.
Do You Drive Your Car to Fill Your Tank?
No? Then why do you live to eat?
Death
Death is a journey to a destination the existence of which cannot be known prior to arrival.
Preparing to Die
Some want to die; some wait to die; some fear to die; some don't care whether they live or die. The philosopher prepares to die.
Envy Again
How little you must know about me to envy me!
Would you envy me had you trod my paths and had thereby come to appreciate the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (Hamlet, Act III, Scene I) that found in me their target?
Your envy, an ugly sin and deadly, is bred in ignorance which, if not a sin is nonetheless ugly — and deadly.
Envy
How little you must be to envy me!
Language and Intellectual Honesty
Precision in the use of language is the beginning of intellectual honesty.
It Can’t Be Legislated
Respect for the rule of law cannot be legislated. A law that mandated respect for the rule of law would presuppose the very respect without which it could not be an effective law. Such respect is among the moral prerequisites of the positive law.
Doubt
It can be corrosive, but also cleansing.
Live Long
There is work to be done, and it may be that it can only be done here.