The sword of justice has no scabbard.

Attributed to the counterrevolutionary thinker Joseph de Maistre, the image suggests that “justice” is not a weapon that can be safely sheathed once drawn; it remains perpetually poised to strike. The metaphor implies an uncompromising, even relentless conception of justice—closer to retribution or providential punishment than to discretionary mercy. Read in light of de Maistre’s broader political theology, the line is often taken to justify harsh, continuous coercive power (state or divine) as an instrument of moral order. It also warns that once a society invokes “justice” as violence, it may be difficult to contain or conclude that violence.