--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We must follow the old authorities and…" description: "\"We must follow the old authorities and precedents in criminal matters.\" — Samuel Taylor Coleridge" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/samuel-taylor-coleridge-425_authority_we-must-follow-the-old-authorities-and-p_2115880.jpg" --- # We must follow the old authorities and precedents in… ![“We must follow the old authorities and precedents in criminal matters.” quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/samuel-taylor-coleridge-425_authority_we-must-follow-the-old-authorities-and-p_2115880.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/samuel-taylor-coleridge-425_authority_we-must-follow-the-old-authorities-and-p_2115880.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/samuel-taylor-coleridge-425_authority_we-must-follow-the-old-authorities-and-p_2115880.jpg) > “We must follow the old authorities and precedents in criminal matters.” [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Legal decisions should respect established precedent to ensure consistency and fairness **In simple terms:** Follow existing law to maintain order Key Takeaway Respect tradition in judicial reasoning Themes law precedent stability authority Mood analytical serious inquisitive Type legal philosophical When to use this quote - court rulings - legislative drafting - policy formation - academic law studies Key Concepts jurisprudence legal theory institutional memory Questions to Reflect On - When should precedent be challenged? - How to balance tradition with evolving societal values? A Different Perspective Rigid adherence may hinder necessary reform ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Criminals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminals/) [Precedent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precedent/) ## Related quotes > [When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/when-i-went-to-law-school-which-after-all-was-back-in-the-dark-ages/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) > [Precedents are the disgrace of legislation. They are not wanted to justify right measures, are absolutely insufficient to excuse wrong ones. They can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/precedents-are-the-disgrace-of-legislation-they-are-not-wanted-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The glory of each generation is to make its own precedents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-glory-of-each-generation-is-to-make-its-own-precedents/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Precedents are treated by powerful minds as fetters with which to bind down the weak, as reasons with which to mistify the moderately informed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-babbage/precedents-are-treated-by-powerful-minds-as-fetters-with-which-to/) [Charles Babbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-babbage/) > [I would rather be accused of breaking precedents than breaking promises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/i-would-rather-be-accused-of-breaking-precedents-than-breaking/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [If you are strong enough, there are no precedents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/if-you-are-strong-enough-there-are-no-precedents/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Stability means respecting precedents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlen-specter/stability-means-respecting-precedents/) [Arlen Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlen-specter/) > [It is found by experience that admirable laws and right precedents among the good have their origin in the misdeeds of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/it-is-found-by-experience-that-admirable-laws-and-right-precedents/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Precedents once established are so much positive power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/precedents-once-established-are-so-much-positive-power/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Every lawyer of experience comes to know (more or less unconsciously) that in the great majority of cases, the precedents are none too good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-frank/every-lawyer-of-experience-comes-to-know-more-or-less-unconsciously/) [Jerome Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-frank/) > [Precedents deliberately established by wise men are entitled to great weight. They are evidence of truth, but only evidence...But a solitary precedent...which has never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay/precedents-deliberately-established-by-wise-men-are-entitled-to-great/) [Henry Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay/) > [As to precedents, to be sure they will increase in course of time; but the more precedents there are, the less occasion is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/as-to-precedents-to-be-sure-they-will-increase-in-course-of-time-but/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Precedents are dangerous things; let the rein of government then be braced and held with a steady hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/precedents-are-dangerous-things-let-the-rein-of-government-then-be/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [What is today supported by precedents will hereafter become a precedent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/what-is-today-supported-by-precedents-will-hereafter-become-a/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [The error of those who reason by precedents drawn from antiquity, respecting the rights of man, is that they do not go far enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-error-of-those-who-reason-by-precedents-drawn-from-antiquity-2/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) ## More by Samuel Taylor Coleridge > [Humor is consistent with pathos, whilst wit is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/humor-is-consistent-with-pathos-whilst-wit-is-not/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [The first duty of a wise advocate is to convince his opponents that he understands their arguments, and sympathies with their just feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-first-duty-of-a-wise-advocate-is-to-convince-his-opponents-that/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [And the Devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/and-the-devil-did-grin-for-his-darling-sin-is-pride-that-apes-humility/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Facts are not truths; they are not conclusions; they are not even premises, but in the nature and parts of premises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/facts-are-not-truths-they-are-not-conclusions-they-are-not-even/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [I do not wish you to act from these truths; no, still and always act from your feelings; only meditate often on these truths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/i-do-not-wish-you-to-act-from-these-truths-no-still-and-always-act/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. 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Security to possessors; 2.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-three-great-ends-which-a-statesman-ought-to-propose-to-himself-in/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“We in ourselves rejoice! And thence flows all that charms or ear or sight, All melodies the echoes of that voice, All colours a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/we-in-ourselves-rejoice-and-thence-flows-all-that-charms-or-ear-or/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) [Explore all 570 Samuel Taylor Coleridge quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. 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