[13]
“Because I don't see what you mean by lawful or what you mean by just.”“Does the expression ‘laws of a state’ convey a meaning to you?”“It does.”“And what do you think they are?”“Covenants made by the citizens whereby they have enacted what ought to be done and what ought to be avoided.”“Then would not that citizen who acts in accordance with these act lawfully, and he who transgresses them act unlawfully?”“Yes, certainly.”“And would not he who obeys them do what is just, and he who disobeys them do what is unjust?”“Certainly.”“Then would not he who does what is just be just, and he who does what is unjust be unjust?”“Of course.”“Consequently he who acts lawfully is just, and he who acts unlawfully is unjust.”
Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 4. E. C. Marchant. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1923.
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