Washington Gladden

“ There are many persons who would admit that the law of love governs the relation of each individual to every other individual; but it is not so clearly understood as it ought to be that it is the law which governs the relation of every individual to the commonwealth. But it must be evident when we think about it that between the individual and the community there can be no other right law than the Golden Rule. I do not want the community by its laws or its officers to injure me, to rob me, to disregard my welfare, to seek to gain at my expense. ”

“ Whenever the penalties of a law are strictly and invariably inflicted, then the law is in force. The law of cleanliness is mercilessly enforced in every plague-ridden city. It is disobeyed, of course, and the people are suffering the consequences of disobedience. Just so the law which bids us love our neighbor—our collective neighbor—as ourselves, is enforced in every city where the government is bad. ”

“ There is a law which provides that what we sow we shall reap; that if we sow cockle we shall not reap wheat, and that if we plant thistle we shall not gather figs; that law, also, is on none of our statute books, but it is always obeyed; no community and no individual ever successfully defied it.
It is true that the people of our cities often disregard these laws, but if they do, they always find that they are in force, for they suffer the penalties. ”