Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 956 |
| AUTHOR: | king of France Louis IX (1226–70) |
| QUOTATION: | Dear son, if you come to reign do that which befits a king, that is, be so just as to deviate in nothing from justice, whatever may befall you. If a poor man goes to law with one who is rich, support the poor rather than the rich man until you know the truth, and when the truth is known, do that which is just. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Another translation: “To keep right and justice be thou righteous and steady with thy people, without turning to the right hand or to the left, but straight forward, and uphold the poor man’s suit until the truth be made manifest.”—Jean de Joinville, The History of St. Louis, ed. Natalis de Wailly, trans. Joan Evans, book 2, chapter 145, p. 225 (1938). In some translations, this is paragraph 747. |
| SUBJECTS: | Justice |