Justice & Law Quote by Terry Waite

“Sometimes the wheels of justice grind slowly” works because it’s both a consolation and an indictment, delivered in the calm, spare language of someone who knows that time can be its own kind of violence. The proverb-like rhythm (“wheels,” “grind”) turns justice into machinery: impersonal, heavy, supposedly unstoppable. That image reassures you that the system will move eventually, even if you can’t feel it moving now. But it also sneaks in a grim admission: delay is baked into the design, and the people caught under those wheels are expected to wait quietly while their lives, reputations, or freedom erode.

Waite’s authority matters. As a hostage negotiator and later a hostage himself in Lebanon, he became a public face for endurance, bureaucracy, and the moral compromises of states. Read through that lens, “sometimes” is doing a lot of work. It softens the charge just enough to sound reasonable, as if slowness is an unfortunate weather pattern rather than a policy choice. The line can be deployed to keep faith during long legal and political processes, but it can also function as a polite gag: an invitation to patience that conveniently protects institutions from urgency, scrutiny, or accountability.

The subtext is that justice delayed isn’t neutral. It redistributes suffering toward victims and the powerless, while the well-resourced learn to stretch time into strategy. Waite’s phrasing gives you hope without letting the system off the hook, which is exactly why it endures.