: And thou didst indeed dare to transgress that law? : Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that… — Sophocles
: And thou didst indeed dare to transgress that law?
: Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that edict; not such are the laws set among men by the justice who dwells with the gods below; nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force, that a mortal could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes of heaven. For their life is not of to-day or yesterday, but from all time, and no man knows when they were first put forth.
Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
More from this book
Show me the man who keeps his house in hand,
He's fit for public authority.
I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare — I have no use for him, either.
Ill-gotten gains work evil.
p. 478
