--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Justice in the hands of the powerful is…" description: "\"Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice? Let us rather call it injustice, but of a sly ef..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg" --- # Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing… ![“Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice? Let us rather call it injustice, but of a sly effective order, based entirely on cruel knowledge of the resistance of the weak, their capacity for pain, humilation and misery. Injustice sustained…” quote by Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg) > “Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice? Let us rather call it injustice, but of a sly effective order, based entirely on cruel knowledge of the resistance of the weak, their capacity for pain, humilation and misery. Injustice sustained at the exact degree of necessary tension to turn the cogs of the huge machine-for-the-making-of-rich-men, without bursting the boiler.” [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Powerful elites shape law to maintain dominance, disguising oppression as justice while exploiting the weak’s suffering. **In simple terms:** The powerful twist justice into oppression. Key Takeaway Recognize and resist systemic injustice. Themes power justice oppression resistance inequality Mood defiant critical urgent Type political philosophical activist When to use this quote - political activism - labor organizing - human rights advocacy - community solidarity Key Concepts social contract hegemony structural violence Questions to Reflect On - How does power distort legal fairness? - What can individuals do to expose hidden oppression? A Different Perspective It can be hard to change entrenched systems without collective action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cogs/) [Governing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governing/) [Injustice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Misery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misery/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Rich man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-man/) [Tension](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tension/) ## Related quotes > [We have suffered unnumbered ills and crimes in the name of the Law of the Land. Our men, women and children have suffered not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-have-suffered-unnumbered-ills-and-crimes-in-the-name-of-the-law-of/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is-merely-a-governing-system-2/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [If you wish to know what justice is, let injustice pursue you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-maria-de-hostos/if-you-wish-to-know-what-justice-is-let-injustice-pursue-you/) [Eugenio Maria de Hostos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-maria-de-hostos/) > [We have not let injustice to be done to anyone. We have been following the policy of 'justice to all, appeasement of none.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajnath-singh/we-have-not-let-injustice-to-be-done-to-anyone-we-have-been-following/) [Rajnath Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajnath-singh/) > [I feel like there was justice. It was served through the legal system you know. Everything that I endured. It was all worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-frey/i-feel-like-there-was-justice-it-was-served-through-the-legal-system/) [Amber Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-frey/) > [The media likes stories. We like narratives. we don't like facts. We don't like justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/the-media-likes-stories-we-like-narratives-we-don-t-like-facts-we-don/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) > [“Western views of justice are primarily focused on how things should be done—laws, rules, and what should happen when laws are broken. In Hebrew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-nicholas/western-views-of-justice-are-primarily-focused-on-how-things-should/) [Jessica Nicholas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-nicholas/) > [As a freshman at Stanford University - a young black man - when O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, it was a joyful moment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sterling-k-brown/as-a-freshman-at-stanford-university-a-young-black-man-when-o-j/) [Sterling K. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sterling-k-brown/) > [Voluptuousness, like justice, is blind, but that is the only resemblance between them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/voluptuousness-like-justice-is-blind-but-that-is-the-only-resemblance/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [I was charged as an adult years before I could buy a beer, lease an apartment, get a pack of cigarettes. I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jelly-roll/i-was-charged-as-an-adult-years-before-i-could-buy-a-beer-lease-an/) [Jelly Roll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jelly-roll/) > [“Self as such was not normal ..will be like the Justice, which lost its wings !! Both are rivals for the same man ..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesham-nebr/self-as-such-was-not-normal-will-be-like-the-justice-which-lost-its/) [Hesham Nebr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesham-nebr/) > [“I would like to see justice achieved effectively and efficiently under the rule of law, which should apply equally to all and derive from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-like-to-see-justice-achieved-effectively-and-efficiently/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With fingernails that shine like justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cake/with-fingernails-that-shine-like-justice/) [Cake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cake/) > [Consider him in his highest incarnation: the university professor. What is his function? Simply to pass on to fresh generations of numskulls a body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/consider-him-in-his-highest-incarnation-the-university-professor-what/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Custom is custom: it is built of brass, boiler-iron, granite; facts, reasonings, arguments have no more effect upon it than the idle winds have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/custom-is-custom-it-is-built-of-brass-boiler-iron-granite-facts/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More by Georges Bernanos > [Fact is Our Lord knew all about the power of money: He gave capitalism a tiny niche in His scheme of things, He gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/fact-is-our-lord-knew-all-about-the-power-of-money-he-gave-capitalism/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [I know the compassion of others is a relief at first. I don't despise it. But it can't quench pain, it slips through your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/i-know-the-compassion-of-others-is-a-relief-at-first-i-don-t-despise/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Optimism approves of everything, submits to everything, believes everything; it is the virtue above all of the taxpayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/optimism-approves-of-everything-submits-to-everything-believes/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [There is nothing that God hates so much as a liar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/there-is-nothing-that-god-hates-so-much-as-a-liar/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [I have done no passably decent job in this world which did not at first seem to me useless - absurdly useless, useless to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/i-have-done-no-passably-decent-job-in-this-world-which-did-not-at/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [A man given to vice is always an idealist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/a-man-given-to-vice-is-always-an-idealist/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Hell is not to love anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/hell-is-not-to-love-anymore/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [I have just discovered something I have always known: we can no more escape from one another than we can escape from God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/i-have-just-discovered-something-i-have-always-known-we-can-no-more/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Truth is meant to save you first, and the comfort comes afterward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/truth-is-meant-to-save-you-first-and-the-comfort-comes-afterward/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Chantal's only ruse ... was her shattering simplicity. While a weak man or an imposter is always more complicated than the problem he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/chantal-s-only-ruse-was-her-shattering-simplicity-while-a-weak-man-or/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Suicide only really frightens those who are never tempted by it and never will be, for its darkness only welcomes those who are predestined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/suicide-only-really-frightens-those-who-are-never-tempted-by-it-and/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Money-crimes have an abstract quality. History is laden with the victims of gold, but their remains are odourless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/money-crimes-have-an-abstract-quality-history-is-laden-with-the/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Faith is not a thing which one loses, we merely cease to shape our lives by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/faith-is-not-a-thing-which-one-loses-we-merely-cease-to-shape-our/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Hell, madame, is to love no longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/hell-madame-is-to-love-no-longer/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) > [Sadness came into the world with Satan - that world our Saviour never prayed for, the world you say I do not know. Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/sadness-came-into-the-world-with-satan-that-world-our-saviour-never/) [Georges Bernanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) [Explore all 77 Georges Bernanos quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/) ## More Boiler quotes > [Custom is custom: it is built of brass, boiler-iron, granite; facts, reasonings, arguments have no more effect upon it than the idle winds have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/custom-is-custom-it-is-built-of-brass-boiler-iron-granite-facts/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Consider him in his highest incarnation: the university professor. What is his function? Simply to pass on to fresh generations of numskulls a body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/consider-him-in-his-highest-incarnation-the-university-professor-what/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Your children are not the same. Not at all. Each one is unique. There are no "boiler plate" clauses that fit all children. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-benson/your-children-are-not-the-same-not-at-all-each-one-is-unique-there/) [Bob Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-benson/) > [“info pelatihan pompa, turbine, boiler, hvac, heat exchanger, petrochemical, oil and gas, pressure vessel, tanki, engineering, dll harga murah hanya 2 juta untuk satu tema”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mechanical-engineer/info-pelatihan-pompa-turbine-boiler-hvac-heat-exchanger-petrochemical/) Mechanical Engineer > [I remember somebody had said to me "What're you doing with a movie like Boiler Room? It's all men and you're a woman. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-todd/i-remember-somebody-had-said-to-me-what-re-you-doing-with-a-movie/) [Suzanne Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-todd/) > [I thought of a remark . . . that the United States is like a 'gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-thought-of-a-remark-that-the-united-states-is-like-a-gigantic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I've never owned a pair of jeans, but I had a fantastic denim boiler-suit and it got a lot of wearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-bryce/i-ve-never-owned-a-pair-of-jeans-but-i-had-a-fantastic-denim-boiler/) [Quentin Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-bryce/) > [Consider... the university professor. What is his function? Simply to pass on to fresh generations of numskulls a body of so-called knowledge that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/consider-the-university-professor-what-is-his-function-simply-to-pass/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I actually live right near a high school and I always walk by...I live in a high school. I actually live in the boiler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-rogen/i-actually-live-right-near-a-high-school-and-i-always-walk-by-i-live/) [Seth Rogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-rogen/) > [On summer evenings, when every flower, and tree, and bird, might have better addressed my soft young heart, I have in my day been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/on-summer-evenings-when-every-flower-and-tree-and-bird-might-have/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Don't be a bunny boiler.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arianne-richmonde/don-t-be-a-bunny-boiler/) [Arianne Richmonde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arianne-richmonde/) > [If you've had a standard gas boiler in your house for 12-15 years, it's probably very inefficient and needs to be taken out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clarke/if-you-ve-had-a-standard-gas-boiler-in-your-house-for-12-15-years-it/) [George Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clarke/) > [Writers aren't like plumbers. If you're a plumber, you fix one person's boiler in the morning, then you go and fix another in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-hughes-hallett/writers-aren-t-like-plumbers-if-you-re-a-plumber-you-fix-one-person-s/) [Lucy Hughes-Hallett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-hughes-hallett/) > [Truth is beautiful and divine, no matter how humble its origin; it is the same in the musty boiler-room as it is in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihajlo-idvorski-pupin/truth-is-beautiful-and-divine-no-matter-how-humble-its-origin-it-is/) [Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihajlo-idvorski-pupin/) > [Let the fires go out in the boiler room of the church and the place will still look smart and clean, but it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-ravenhill/let-the-fires-go-out-in-the-boiler-room-of-the-church-and-the-place/) [Leonard Ravenhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-ravenhill/) Browse all 44 Boiler quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice? Let us rather call it injustice, but of a sly effective order, based entirely on cruel knowledge of the resistance of the weak, their capacity for pain, humilation and misery. Injustice sustained at the exact degree of necessary tension to turn the cogs of the huge machine-for-the-making-of-rich-men, without bursting the boiler.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Georges Bernanos" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is-merely-a-governing-system/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boiler" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is-merely-a-governing-system/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6d0/georges-bernanos-7838_boiler_justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is_582313.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Justice in the hands of the powerful is merely a governing system like any other. Why call it justice? Let…” — Georges Bernanos", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Georges Bernanos", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-bernanos/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Justice in the hands of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is-merely-a-governing-system/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-bernanos/justice-in-the-hands-of-the-powerful-is-merely-a-governing-system/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```