--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We cannot, by total reliance on law…" description: "\"We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad laws, and it confor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95b/alexander-bickel-99732_bad-laws_we-cannot-by-total-reliance-on-law-escap_2199677.png" --- # We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to… ![“We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad laws, and it conforms to the highest traditions of a free society to offer resistance to bad laws, and to disobey them.” quote by Alexander Bickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95b/alexander-bickel-99732_bad-laws_we-cannot-by-total-reliance-on-law-escap_2199677.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95b/alexander-bickel-99732_bad-laws_we-cannot-by-total-reliance-on-law-escap_2199677.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95b/alexander-bickel-99732_bad-laws_we-cannot-by-total-reliance-on-law-escap_2199677.png) > “We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad laws, and it conforms to the highest traditions of a free society to offer resistance to bad laws, and to disobey them.” Alexander Bickel ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage argues that reliance on law does not replace moral judgment; citizens must resist and disobey unjust laws. **In simple terms:** Legal obedience is insufficient without moral discernment. Key Takeaway Exercise moral judgment over legal compliance. Themes law morality civil disobedience justice citizen duty Mood ethical defiant reflective Type Bad laws:1 Civil disobedience:1 Conform:0 Disobedience:1 Drug:0 Duty:1 Free society:1 Highest:0 Judging:0 Law:1 Laws:1 Offers:0 Reliance:0 Resistance:1 Right and wrong:1 Tradition:0 Users:0 War:0 Good Laws:1 Laws Disobey:0 Laws Conforms:0 Laws Occasionally:0 When to use this quote - voting - protesting - community organizing Key Concepts political activism legal reform ethical education Questions to Reflect On - When should one disobey a law? - How can societies balance order with moral critique? A Different Perspective Blind obedience can perpetuate injustice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-laws/) [Civil disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-disobedience/) [Disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disobedience/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Free society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-society/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Right and wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-and-wrong/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-do-not-need-to-get-good-laws-to-restrain-bad-people-we-need-to-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The best use of good laws is to teach men to trample bad laws under their feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-best-use-of-good-laws-is-to-teach-men-to-trample-bad-laws-under/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [“In short, we do not get good laws to restrain bad people. We get good people to restrain bad laws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/in-short-we-do-not-get-good-laws-to-restrain-bad-people-we-get-good/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [“When EVIL men make bad laws, righteous men disobey them." Pastor Butch Paugh”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarrin-p-lupo/when-evil-men-make-bad-laws-righteous-men-disobey-them-pastor-butch/) Tarrin P. Lupo > [There’s this powerful phrase in the legal world, “Difficult cases make bad law.” The exception is the difficult case. You can’t generalize them by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/there-s-this-powerful-phrase-in-the-legal-world-difficult-cases-make/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are in my opinion more dangerous than songwriters who celebrate sexuality. Freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/bad-facts-make-bad-law-and-people-who-write-bad-laws-are-in-my-2/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [Some of us do not accept the Establishment myth that bad laws must be obeyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-driberg/some-of-us-do-not-accept-the-establishment-myth-that-bad-laws-must-be/) Tom Driberg > [Anyone who takes it upon himself, on his private authority, to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/anyone-who-takes-it-upon-himself-on-his-private-authority-to-break-a/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [It may be said that the power of preventing bad laws includes that of preventing good ones; and may be used to the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/it-may-be-said-that-the-power-of-preventing-bad-laws-includes-that-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-difficult-to-make-our-material-condition-better-by-the-best-law/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“The visitor shrugged. 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Miller Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-m-miller-jr/) > [When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, let me not be understood as saying there are no bad laws,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/when-i-so-pressingly-urge-a-strict-observance-of-all-the-laws-let-me/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Let me not be understood as saying that there are no bad laws, nor that grievances may not arise for the redress of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-me-not-be-understood-as-saying-that-there-are-no-bad-laws-nor/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are in my opinion more dangerous than songwriters who celebrate sexuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/bad-facts-make-bad-law-and-people-who-write-bad-laws-are-in-my/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) ## More by Alexander Bickel > [ \[The judiciary is\] the least dangerous branch of our government. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-bickel/the-judiciary-is-the-least-dangerous-branch-of-our-government/) Alexander Bickel Explore all 2 Alexander Bickel quotes ## More Bad laws quotes > [Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are in my opinion more dangerous than songwriters who celebrate sexuality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/bad-facts-make-bad-law-and-people-who-write-bad-laws-are-in-my/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [“Let me not be understood as saying that there are no bad laws, nor that grievances may not arise for the redress of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/let-me-not-be-understood-as-saying-that-there-are-no-bad-laws-nor/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, let me not be understood as saying there are no bad laws,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/when-i-so-pressingly-urge-a-strict-observance-of-all-the-laws-let-me/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“The visitor shrugged. "Like euthanasia? I'm sorry, Father, I feel that the laws of a society are what make something a crime or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-m-miller-jr/the-visitor-shrugged-like-euthanasia-i-m-sorry-father-i-feel-that-the/) [Walter M. Miller Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-m-miller-jr/) > [“When EVIL men make bad laws, righteous men disobey them." Pastor Butch Paugh”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarrin-p-lupo/when-evil-men-make-bad-laws-righteous-men-disobey-them-pastor-butch/) Tarrin P. Lupo > [It is difficult to make our material condition better by the best law, but it is easy enough to ruin it by bad laws.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-difficult-to-make-our-material-condition-better-by-the-best-law/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [It may be said that the power of preventing bad laws includes that of preventing good ones; and may be used to the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/it-may-be-said-that-the-power-of-preventing-bad-laws-includes-that-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [Anyone who takes it upon himself, on his private authority, to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/anyone-who-takes-it-upon-himself-on-his-private-authority-to-break-a/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Some of us do not accept the Establishment myth that bad laws must be obeyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-driberg/some-of-us-do-not-accept-the-establishment-myth-that-bad-laws-must-be/) Tom Driberg > [“In short, we do not get good laws to restrain bad people. We get good people to restrain bad laws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/in-short-we-do-not-get-good-laws-to-restrain-bad-people-we-get-good/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [Bad facts make bad law, and people who write bad laws are in my opinion more dangerous than songwriters who celebrate sexuality. Freedom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/bad-facts-make-bad-law-and-people-who-write-bad-laws-are-in-my-2/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [The best use of good laws is to teach men to trample bad laws under their feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-best-use-of-good-laws-is-to-teach-men-to-trample-bad-laws-under/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [There’s this powerful phrase in the legal world, “Difficult cases make bad law.” The exception is the difficult case. You can’t generalize them by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/there-s-this-powerful-phrase-in-the-legal-world-difficult-cases-make/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [ Since the early days, \[the church\] has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/since-the-early-days-the-church-has-thrown-itself-violently-against/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Browse all 26 Bad laws quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-laws/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... 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