"Human life is held in much higher esteem, and the taking of it, whether in private quarrel or by judicial procedure, is looked upon much more seriously than it was formerly"
About this Quote
A lawyer’s faith in progress can sound almost scandalously calm, and Elihu Root’s sentence is calm in the way institutions prefer to be: measured, comparative, quietly self-congratulatory. The line isn’t mourning; it’s bookkeeping. “Held in much higher esteem” frames the value of life not as a moral absolute but as a social metric that rises over time, as if civilization were an index fund. That’s the specific intent: to argue that modern society is refining itself, becoming more restrained, more procedural, more “serious” about death.
The subtext is where the lawyerly mind shows. Root pairs “private quarrel” with “judicial procedure,” yoking street violence to state violence and insisting both now fall under heightened scrutiny. It’s a subtle legitimization of the legal order: the state may still kill, but it does so with a gravity that distinguishes it from vendetta. The phrase “looked upon” matters, too. He’s talking about public perception and institutional attitude, not necessarily about fewer killings or less cruelty. Seriousness becomes a proxy for justice.
Root’s era makes the claim legible. Born before the Civil War and prominent through the Progressive Era, he lived amid professionalizing courts, expanding bureaucracies, and reform movements that sought to tame both urban violence and the rougher edges of punishment. The quote functions as a Progressivist reassurance: we are not done being violent, but we are learning to feel the “right” way about it. That emotional regulation is presented as civilization itself.
The subtext is where the lawyerly mind shows. Root pairs “private quarrel” with “judicial procedure,” yoking street violence to state violence and insisting both now fall under heightened scrutiny. It’s a subtle legitimization of the legal order: the state may still kill, but it does so with a gravity that distinguishes it from vendetta. The phrase “looked upon” matters, too. He’s talking about public perception and institutional attitude, not necessarily about fewer killings or less cruelty. Seriousness becomes a proxy for justice.
Root’s era makes the claim legible. Born before the Civil War and prominent through the Progressive Era, he lived amid professionalizing courts, expanding bureaucracies, and reform movements that sought to tame both urban violence and the rougher edges of punishment. The quote functions as a Progressivist reassurance: we are not done being violent, but we are learning to feel the “right” way about it. That emotional regulation is presented as civilization itself.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
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