Justice is a machine that, when someone has once given it the starting push, rolls on of itself.

Galsworthy’s image of justice as a “machine” suggests an impersonal system that, once set in motion, proceeds according to its own momentum rather than human sympathy. The “starting push” implies that an accusation, lawsuit, or official action can trigger processes—procedural rules, institutional incentives, public opinion—that become difficult to stop or redirect. The metaphor carries an implicit warning: legal and moral judgments may be treated as automatic, even when the individuals involved are complex and the consequences severe. It also reflects a modern, bureaucratic view of law as mechanism: efficient in theory, but potentially indifferent in practice, rolling forward regardless of nuance or mercy.