| Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989. | | | |
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| | | NUMBER: | 788 |
| AUTHOR: | Sir William Blackstone (1723–80) |
| QUOTATION: | In all tyrannical governments the supreme magistracy, or the right both of making and of enforcing the laws, is vested in one and the same man, or one and the same body of men; and wherever these two powers are united together, there can be no public liberty. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE, Commentaries on the Laws of England, 9th ed., book 1, chapter 2, p. 146 (1783, reprinted 1978). |
| SUBJECTS: | Government—separation of powers |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia | | |
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