Fairness

While you ask yourselves, 'what do they, the Indians, want?,' you have only to look at the unjust laws made for them, and say they want what I want, which is that 'all men must operate under one general law.'
~ William Apes, Eulogy on King Philip, as Pronounced at the Odeon in Federal Street, Boston (1836).

And all the Nations were threshed out, & the stars thresh'd from their husks.
~ William Blake, Vala, or the Four Zoas (1797). Night the Ninth being the Last Judgement

The use of a mentally ill person's involuntary confession is antithetical to the notion of fundamental fairness embodied in the Due Process Clause.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (dissenting opinion), Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157 (1986)

[W]e cannot ... let color blindness become myopia which masks the reality that many "created equal" have been treated within our lifetimes as inferior both by the law and by their fellow citizens.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr., University Of California Regents v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978).

We do not yet have justice, equal and practical, for the poor, for the members of minority groups, for the criminally accused, for the displaced person of the technological revolution, for alienated youth, for the urban masses, for the unrepresented consumer -- for all, in short, who do not partake of the abundance of American life.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr., Address before the Washington Judiciary Conference, Spokane WA (25 August 1986).

When a country of more than 200 million people inflicts an unusually severe punishment no more than 50 times a year, the inference is strong that the punishment is not being regularly and fairly applied.
~ William Joseph Brennan, Jr. (concurring opinion), Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 314 (1972).

Inequality among mankind is a foe to our happiness.
~ William Hill Brown, The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature. Founded in Truth (1789). Letter XVII

When men and women become ashamed of doing nothing and strive to give to society full compensation for all they receive from society, there will be harmony between the classes.
~ William Jennings Bryan, in The Public (14 July 1906). The White Man's Burden (Address at the Independence Day Banquet of the American Society of London; 4 July 1906)

Be just and if you can't be just, be arbitrary.
~ William S. Burroughs, The Naked Lunch (1959).

Society is based upon a principle of perfect equality, which knows no such distinctions as rich and poor, noble and ignoble, patrician and plebeian, aristocrat and democrat, rulers and ruled. These are all distinctions produced by society itself.
~ William Carpenter, The Political Text Book (1833). Part I. Chapter I. The Origin and Objects of Society

If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
~ "Johnny" William Carson, NBC TV. The Tonight Show

It is as true of governments as of individuals, that it is base and unmanly to trample on the weak.
~ William Ellery Channing, The Duty of the Free States: or, Remarks Suggested by the Case of the Creole (1842).

If all the agitators had nothing to agitate, they would soon leave off agitating. [I] ... defy all the agitators in the world to agitate the fellow who had got a good piece of bread and bacon in his mouth, and a barrel of beer to draw out of when he liked.
~ William Cobbett, in the Political Register (4 October 1834). My Proceedings in Dublin: Mr. Cobbett's Lectures

Just knows, and knows no more, her Bible true, --
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Truth

A little less complaint and whining, and a little more dogged work and manly striving would do us more credit and benefit than a thousand Force or Civil Rights bills.
~ William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, from The American Negro Academy Occasional Papers, No.2. Washington, D.C. (1897). The Conservation of Races

I believe that all men, black and brown, and white, are brothers, varying, through time and opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and in the possibility of infinite development.
~ William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, from Darkwater: Voices from within the Veil (1920). Credo

Since Nature has not read very carefully the Declaration of Independence or the French Revolutionary Declaration of the Rights of Man, we are all born unfree and unequal.
~ William James "Will" Durant (with Ariel Durant), The Lessons of History (1968).

To live anywhere in the world of A.D. 1955 and be against equality because of race or color, is like living in Alaska and being against snow.
~ William Faulkner, in Essays, Speeches and Public Letters (1965).

All is fair in love, war, and poker.
~ William J. Florence (nee William Jermyn Conlin), The Gentleman's Handbook on Poker (1892).

I'm really very sorry for you all, but it's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances.
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, The Mikado (1885 opera). Act II

The oppression of a majority is detestable and odious; the oppression of a minority is only by one degree less detestable and odious.
~ William Ewart Gladstone, Speech, House of Commons (March 1870)

To be engaged in opposing wrong affords, under the conditions of our mental constitution, but a slender guarantee for being right.
~ William Ewart Gladstone, Homeric Synchronism: An Enquiry Into The Time And Place Of Homer (1876). Introductory

Every man is entitled ... not only to the means of being, but of well being.
~ William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793). Book VIII, Chapter I. Genuine System of Property Delineated

Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.
~ William Goldman, The Princess Bride (1973).

I haven't been able to touch my family since the 16th of January. Soon, I hope, this will be over, and we'll be able to carry on with our lives.
~ William Harris, The Sacramento Bee (23 February 2002). SLA's Harris is freed on bail

I hope you will neither be the dupe nor victim of vulgar prejudices.
~ William Hazlitt, Table-talk; Or, Original Essays, Volume II (1825 edition). On The Conduct Of Life; or, Advice to a School-Boy (1822 essay)

In general, the world is a rational place in which winners on the whole deserve to win and losers deserve to lose. It is only for the exception, the lives that are strikingly unfair, that we maintain the mediating devices of social welfare.
~ William A. Henry III, In Defense of Elitism (1994). Nature and Nurture

Equality is such a beautiful thing that I wonder people can ever have any other ideal. It is the only social joy, the only comfort.
~ William Dean Howells, in The Century Magazine (1896). Equality as the Basis of Good Society

We are always sowing our future; we are always reaping our past.
~ William Ralph (Dean) Inge, from Faith and Knowledge (1904). V. Justice

If I drop dead this second, our position will not change on this issue. It's not my issue alone.
~ William Woodward "Hootie" Johnson (remarks on the single-gender membership policy at Augusta National Golf Club, made during the annual state-of-the-Masters press conference), The Associated Press (9 April 2003). Club has no timetable: Augusta chairman 'comfortable' with present status

I've run into more discrimination as a woman than as an Indian.
~ Wilma Mankiller

There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things break about even for all of us. I have observed, for example, that we all get about the same amount of ice. The rich get it in the summertime and the poor get it in winter.
~ William Barclay "Bat" Masterson

The rain fell alike upon the just and upon the unjust, and for nothing was there a why and a wherefore.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage (1915).

We are forced to face the question of whether we will be able to go forward together as a unified society with a confident outlook, or as a society of diverse economic groups suspicious of both the future and each other.
~ William J. McDonough, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Colloquium on U.S. Wage Trends in the 1980s (4 November 1994). Opening Remarks

Who has given to me this sweet,
And given my brother dust to eat?
And when will his wage come in?
~ William Vaughn Moody, from Poems (1901). Gloucester Moors

For all these shall be ours and all men's; nor shall any lack a share
Of the toil and the gain of living in the days when the world grows fair.
~ William Morris, from Poems by the Way (1891). The Day is Coming

I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.
~ William Morris, Address delivered before the Trades' Guild of Learning, London (4 December 1877). The Decorative Arts, Their Relation To Modern Life And Progress

The wisdom of man hath not devised a happier institution than that of juries, nor one founded in a juster knowledge of human life, or of human capacity.
~ William Paley, in Memoirs of William Paley (1809). A Sermon, Preached At The Assizes At Durham (29 July 1795)

If it be an evil to judge rashly or untruly any single man, how much a greater sin it is to condemn a whole people.
~ William Penn, A Key Opening the Way (1693).

The Constitution requires that Congress treat similarly situated persons similarly, not that it engage in gestures of superficial equality.
~ William H. Rehnquist

People want just taxes more than they want lower taxes. They want to know that every man is paying his proportionate share according to his wealth.
~ Will Rogers, Weekly Articles (2 November 1924)

Be just, and fear not:
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
Thy God's, and truth's.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII. Act III, scene ii

Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
Hover through the fog and filthy air.
~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth. Act I, scene i

I not deny
The jury, passing on the prisoner's life,
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try.
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act II, scene i

I like not fair terms and a villain's mind.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act I, scene iii

If the great gods be just, they shall assist
The deeds of justest men.
~ William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra. Act II, scene i

In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke.
~ William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing. Act I, scene i

Let's go hand in hand, not one before another.
~ William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors. Act V, scene i

Like a fair house, built on another man's ground.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Act II, scene ii

The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good.
~ William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure. Act III, scene i

Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping?
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act II, scene ii

What judgement shall I dread, doing no wrong?
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act IV, scene i

The vestiges of racism and discrimination have been removed from the law; now it is time to remove them from the board rooms of corporate America
~ William-Paul Thomas, The Associated Press (2 February 2002). Group targets race-based insurance premiums

In the face of unjust criticism
we can become bitter or better;
upset or understanding;
hostile or humble;
furious or forgiving.
~ William Arthur Ward

I am looking for closure. I am not bitter. I am not angry. In fact, there's a great sense of peace that has come over me in the past year. I feel as though a great weight has been lifted.
~ Essie Mae Washington-Williams, Press conference at the Adam's Mark hotel, Columbia, SC (17 December 2003).

Leave it to a girl, to take all the fun out of sex discrimination.
~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (6 December 1985).

I know [the world isn't fair], but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor?
~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes (14 April 1986).

Since others have to tolerate my weaknesses, it is only fair that I should tolerate theirs.
~ William Allen White

[A]ristocracy and exclusiveness tend to final overthrow, in language as in politics; the needs and interests of the many are more important than those of the few, and must in the end prevail.
~ William Dwight Whitney, from Language and the Study of Language: Twelve Lectures on the Principles of Linguistic Science (1867). Lecture IV

All life is equal in the eternal eye.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Poems of Power (1901). Mission

I play basketball more than anything else. It's fun. Almost my whole class is on the basketball team. My little friends said, "That's not fair that you can't play."
~ Colm Williams, in Boston Globe (15 March 2002). Hoop dreams: 6-year-old in wheelchair wants to play with the able-bodied

Judge not, lest you be so fearful of judgment that you can hardly breath.
~ Paul Williams

The constitution does not provide for first and second class citizens.
~ Wendell Lewis Willkie, An American Program (1944).

It would be ridiculous for me to say anything negative regarding blacks having an equal opportunity on TV. After all, I was number one in the ratings four times last year and twice this season. What could be more damn equal than that? If they get any more equal, I don't want it.
~ Clerow "Flip" Wilson (1971), quoted in The Associated Press (26 November 1998). Comedian Flip Wilson Dies at 64

Everybody should have an equal chance -- but they shouldn't have a flying start.
~ Harold Wilson, quoted in The Observer (1963). Sayings of the Year

The stars are threshed, and the souls are threshed from their husks.
~ William Butler Yeats, Epigraph from Crossways (1889).