--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's of more importance to community that…" description: "\"It's of more importance to community that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished\" — John Adams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg" --- # It's of more importance to community that innocence should… ![“It's of more importance to community that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished” quote by John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg) > “It's of more importance to community that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished” [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Protecting innocence in a community is more vital than punishing guilt, emphasizing preventive care over retributive justice. **In simple terms:** Safeguarding the innocent matters more than punishing the guilty. Key Takeaway Prioritize protection and support for the vulnerable. Themes justice community protection ethics Mood reflective serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - legal reform - education - child welfare - public policy Key Concepts preventive justice moral philosophy social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What measures can ensure innocence is protected without neglecting accountability? - How do societies decide when to prioritize protection over punishment? A Different Perspective Balancing protection with accountability can be complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) ## Related quotes > [“The reason is, because it’s of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/the-reason-is-because-it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-that/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/it-is-more-important-that-innocence-be-protected-than-it-is-that/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Each individual of the society has a right to be protected by it in the enjoyment of his life, liberty, and property, according to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/each-individual-of-the-society-has-a-right-to-be-protected-by-it-in/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [ \[A\] republic . . . \[is\] a government, in which the property of the public, or people, and of every one of them was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/a-republic-is-a-government-in-which-the-property-of-the-public-or/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/for-every-nineteenth-century-middle-class-family-that-protected-its/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [The only ground on which a neutral State can claim respect at the hands of belligerents is, that, so far as she is concerned,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerrit-smith/the-only-ground-on-which-a-neutral-state-can-claim-respect-at-the/) [Gerrit Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerrit-smith/) > [When I travel officially... and when I travel on a private basis, I have protection that is less suffocating. But I am protected everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-hollande/when-i-travel-officially-and-when-i-travel-on-a-private-basis-i-have/) [Francois Hollande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-hollande/) > [I ride my bike almost every day here in New York. It's getting safer to do so, but I do have to be fairly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-byrne/i-ride-my-bike-almost-every-day-here-in-new-york-it-s-getting-safer/) [David Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-byrne/) > [I would love for models to be protected by a guild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyra-banks/i-would-love-for-models-to-be-protected-by-a-guild/) [Tyra Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyra-banks/) > [In all of Western civilization, there have been societies that celebrating the homosexuality, the ancient Greeks. 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The only possible way, then, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/we-may-affirm-that-the-balance-of-power-in-a-society-accompanies-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [“The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/the-longer-i-live-the-more-i-read-the-more-patiently-i-think-and-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/but-what-do-we-mean-by-the-american-revolution-do-we-mean-the/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [“Upon common theaters, indeed, the applause of the audience is of more importance to the actors than their own aprobation. 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Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) [Browse all 13,840 Community quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's of more importance to community that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-that-innocence-should-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Community" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-that-innocence-should-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02f/john-adams-529_community_it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-tha_853756.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's of more importance to community that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be…” — John Adams", "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": "John Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's of more importance to community...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-that-innocence-should-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/it-s-of-more-importance-to-community-that-innocence-should-be/#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 } } ] } ```