On the title page of The Works of James Wilson, there's a Latin inscription saying, "lex fundamentum est libertatis, qua fruimur. legum omnes servi sumus, ut liberi esse possimus":
What does this mean?
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1Something like that: " Law is the foundation of freedom, from which we enjoy. We all are servant of the laws in order to be free." My translation may be wrong, but that's the meaning.– Antônio SilvaCommented Jul 7 at 20:31
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Lisa Simpson paraphrased this as an example of a paradox in a The Simpsons episode.– Tony EnnisCommented Jul 8 at 15:56
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1 Answer
It's a paraphrase of a passage (146) from the Pro Cluentio, a speech by Cicero (hence the 'Cic.' at the bottom of your image):
hoc enim vinculum est huius dignitatis qua fruimur in re publica, hoc fundamentum libertatis, hic fons aequitatis; mens et animus et consilium et sententia civitatis posita est in legibus. ut corpora nostra sine mente, sic civitas sine lege suis partibus ut nervis ac sanguine et membris uti non potest. legum ministri magistratus, legum interpretes iudices, legum denique idcirco omnes servi sumus ut liberi esse possimus.
The paraphrase means, 'The law is the foundation of the liberty that we enjoy. We are all slaves of the laws in order that we may be able to be free.'
