--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a…" description: "\"Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high principle.\" — Ivan Klíma" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png" --- # Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high… ![“Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high principle.” quote by Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png) > “Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high principle.” [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Justice is portrayed as vengeance disguised as moral high ground, suggesting hypocrisy in ethical claims. **In simple terms:** Justice can hide revenge behind lofty principles. Key Takeaway Question the purity of moral arguments. Themes ethics justice hypocrisy Mood skeptical reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - legal reform - public discourse - activism Key Concepts philosophy political theory Questions to Reflect On - When have you seen justice used as revenge? - How can true fairness be distinguished from hidden motives? A Different Perspective It may conflate justice with personal vendettas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) ## Related quotes > [No matter what someone else has done, it still matters how we treat people. It matters to our humanity that we treat offenders according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/no-matter-what-someone-else-has-done-it-still-matters-how-we-treat/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Justice is revenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saad-hariri/justice-is-revenge/) [Saad Hariri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saad-hariri/) > [“There's no difference between justice and revenge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-s-no-difference-between-justice-and-revenge/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ashamed of the many frailties they feel within, all men endeavor to hide themselves, their ugly nakedness, from each other, and wrapping up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/ashamed-of-the-many-frailties-they-feel-within-all-men-endeavor-to/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing subterfuge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grover-cleveland/it-is-better-to-be-defeated-standing-for-a-high-principle-than-to-run/) [Grover Cleveland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grover-cleveland/) > [The vast majority of politicians think they are functioning on high principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-e-brown-jr/the-vast-majority-of-politicians-think-they-are-functioning-on-high/) George E. Brown, Jr > [Never stand so high upon a principle that you cannot lower it to suit the circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/never-stand-so-high-upon-a-principle-that-you-cannot-lower-it-to-suit/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [A business of high principle generates greater drive and effectiveness because people know that they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-bower/a-business-of-high-principle-generates-greater-drive-and/) [Marvin Bower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-bower/) > [A business of high principle attracts high-caliber people more easily, thereby gaining a basic competitive and profit edge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-bower/a-business-of-high-principle-attracts-high-caliber-people-more-easily/) [Marvin Bower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-bower/) > [Responsible for wrapping the iron fist of authority in its velvet glove is Jane Axtell, head of the accountancy firm's Human Resources department.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/responsible-for-wrapping-the-iron-fist-of-authority-in-its-velvet/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [The scary thing is that sometimes you are wrapping up animation on a sequence and you don't know how the movie ends or begins.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-scanlon/the-scary-thing-is-that-sometimes-you-are-wrapping-up-animation-on-a/) [Dan Scanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-scanlon/) > [The basic scam in the Internet age is pretty easy even for the financially illiterate to grasp. It was as if banks like Goldman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-basic-scam-in-the-internet-age-is-pretty-easy-even-for-the/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [The onion and its satin wrappings is among the most beautiful of vegetables and is the only one that represents the essence of things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dudley-warner/the-onion-and-its-satin-wrappings-is-among-the-most-beautiful-of/) [Charles Dudley Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dudley-warner/) > [His fingers leave streaks of cold on my skin, invisible to the eye, and I think about wrapping his shirt around my fist and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/his-fingers-leave-streaks-of-cold-on-my-skin-invisible-to-the-eye-and/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [The benevolence of wrapping the partridge in a vine leaf brings out its quality, just as the barrel of Diogenes brought forth the qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-des-essarts/the-benevolence-of-wrapping-the-partridge-in-a-vine-leaf-brings-out/) Emmanuel des Essarts ## More by Ivan Klíma > [“..the writer’s obsession – the desire to know and communicate, or, rather, to know everything so as to communicate with the greatest degree of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/the-writer-s-obsession-the-desire-to-know-and-communicate-or-rather/) [Ivan Klima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“Anyone longing to become a writer, for even a few moments of his life, will vainly weave fantastic events unless he has experienced that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/anyone-longing-to-become-a-writer-for-even-a-few-moments-of-his-life/) [Ivan Klima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“My father also told me that people had always suffered from being tied to the ground, from not being able to detach themselves from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/my-father-also-told-me-that-people-had-always-suffered-from-being/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [Fear is the touch of death, death reminding us of its existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/fear-is-the-touch-of-death-death-reminding-us-of-its-existence/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“Man is reluctant to accept that his life has come to a conclusion in that most important respect, that his hopes have been fulfilled.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/man-is-reluctant-to-accept-that-his-life-has-come-to-a-conclusion-in/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [The world is like an enormous set of scales. When evil begins to outweigh good, angels cram themselves in on the lighter side. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/the-world-is-like-an-enormous-set-of-scales-when-evil-begins-to/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [A picture was a motionless record of motion. An arrested representation of life. A picture was the kiss of death pretending to possess immutability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/a-picture-was-a-motionless-record-of-motion-an-arrested/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“The halcyon days of childhood, a time when everything lay open before him, when the most minor episodes could be construed as events and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/the-halcyon-days-of-childhood-a-time-when-everything-lay-open-before/) [Ivan Klima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [...there is little that comes so close to death as fulfilled love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/there-is-little-that-comes-so-close-to-death-as-fulfilled-love/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [If we lose our memory, we lose ourselves. Forgetting is one of the symptoms of death. Without memory we cease to be human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/if-we-lose-our-memory-we-lose-ourselves-forgetting-is-one-of-the/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“The Apocalypse can take different forms. The least dramatic, at first sight, is the one in which man perishes under an avalanche of useless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/the-apocalypse-can-take-different-forms-the-least-dramatic-at-first/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“It needs a lot of courage to admit to an action that one is ashamed of and knows to be wrong. One's reluctance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/it-needs-a-lot-of-courage-to-admit-to-an-action-that-one-is-ashamed/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [“Growing numbers of people, in their work, come into contact with a diminishing fragment of reality; as their world shrinks, so does their language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/growing-numbers-of-people-in-their-work-come-into-contact-with-a/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [I realised the amazing power of literature and of the human imagination generally: to make the dead live and to stop the living from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/i-realised-the-amazing-power-of-literature-and-of-the-human/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) > [If you tell anything to a woman ... it's like putting it in the papers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/if-you-tell-anything-to-a-woman-it-s-like-putting-it-in-the-papers/) [Ivan Klíma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) [Explore all 23 Ivan Klíma quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/) ## More Cloaks quotes > [Life is so full of meaning and of purpose, so full of beauty - beneath its covering - that you will find that earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giovanni-giocondo/life-is-so-full-of-meaning-and-of-purpose-so-full-of-beauty-beneath/) [Giovanni Giocondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giovanni-giocondo/) > [Ambition is all very well, my lad, but you must cloak it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-stroud/ambition-is-all-very-well-my-lad-but-you-must-cloak-it/) [Jonathan Stroud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-stroud/) > [Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/victory-attained-by-violence-is-tantamount-to-a-defeat-for-it-is/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Good God, man, what is that smell?" He eyed with disgust the doctor's filthy cloak. "Life," answered the doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/good-god-man-what-is-that-smell-he-eyed-with-disgust-the-doctor-s/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition, but the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/masters-of-the-bluff-and-masters-of-the-proposition-but-the-enemy-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The craftiest trickery are too short and ragged a cloak to cover a bad heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/the-craftiest-trickery-are-too-short-and-ragged-a-cloak-to-cover-a/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [The night breathed through the apartment like a dark animal. The ticking of a clock. The groan of a floorboard as he slipped out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/the-night-breathed-through-the-apartment-like-a-dark-animal-the/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [The purpose of subject matter is to veil technique. The great artist uses the cloak of resemblance to hide the means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/the-purpose-of-subject-matter-is-to-veil-technique-the-great-artist/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [“First, very little is as striking as a well-worn cloak, billowing lightly about you in the breeze. And second, the best cloaks have innumerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/first-very-little-is-as-striking-as-a-well-worn-cloak-billowing/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [ I was a little jealous of the levitation cloak but I was happy to be comfortable \[on Doctor Strange set\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-mcadams/i-was-a-little-jealous-of-the-levitation-cloak-but-i-was-happy-to-be/) [Rachel McAdams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-mcadams/) > [The cloak of the past is cut from patches of feeling ,and sewn with rebus threads.Most of the time , the best we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/the-cloak-of-the-past-is-cut-from-patches-of-feeling-and-sewn-with/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [It is only all too easy to understand the requirements contained in God's Word ('Give all your goods to the poor.' 'If anyone strikes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/it-is-only-all-too-easy-to-understand-the-requirements-contained-in/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Recognize negativism and inferiority attitudes as enemies - do not try to dress them as your friends. you will be tempted to look upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-stanley-jones/recognize-negativism-and-inferiority-attitudes-as-enemies-do-not-try/) [E. Stanley Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-stanley-jones/) > [Book burning is a charming old custom, hallowed by antiquity. It has been practiced for centuries by fascists, communists, atheists, school children, rival authors,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-armour/book-burning-is-a-charming-old-custom-hallowed-by-antiquity-it-has/) [Richard Armour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-armour/) Browse all 241 Cloaks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high principle.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ivan Klíma" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a-cloak-of-high-principle/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cloaks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a-cloak-of-high-principle/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a1b/ivan-klima-24809_cloaks_justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a_1753558.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Justice was revenge wrapping itself in a cloak of high principle.” — Ivan Klíma", "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": "Ivan Klíma", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-klima/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Justice was revenge wrapping itself in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a-cloak-of-high-principle/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-klima/justice-was-revenge-wrapping-itself-in-a-cloak-of-high-principle/#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 } } ] } ```