--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: nothing, on the other hand, can be more…" description: "\"“nothing, on the other hand, can be more impenetrable to the uninitiated than a legislation founded upon precedents.”\" — Alexis de Tocqueville" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/700/alexis-de-tocqueville-625_law_nothing-on-the-other-hand-can-be-more-im_1745662.png" --- # nothing, on the other hand, can be more impenetrable to… ![“nothing, on the other hand, can be more impenetrable to the uninitiated than a legislation founded upon precedents.” quote by Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/700/alexis-de-tocqueville-625_law_nothing-on-the-other-hand-can-be-more-im_1745662.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/700/alexis-de-tocqueville-625_law_nothing-on-the-other-hand-can-be-more-im_1745662.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/700/alexis-de-tocqueville-625_law_nothing-on-the-other-hand-can-be-more-im_1745662.png) > ““nothing, on the other hand, can be more impenetrable to the uninitiated than a legislation founded upon precedents.”” [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Legal systems built on past decisions are opaque to newcomers, making law hard to grasp. **In simple terms:** Complex law confuses beginners. Key Takeaway Study foundational principles. Themes law history education Mood thoughtful critical Type analytical educational When to use this quote - law school - public policy - civic education - legal reform Key Concepts precedent jurisprudence accessibility Questions to Reflect On - How can law be made more transparent? - What role do precedents play in justice? A Different Perspective Complexity can hinder reform efforts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Lawyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lawyers/) [Legislation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legislation/) ## Related quotes > [All legislation is founded upon the principle of mutual concession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay/all-legislation-is-founded-upon-the-principle-of-mutual-concession/) [Henry Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay/) > [“The lawyers of the United States form a party which is but little feared and scarcely perceived, which has no badge peculiar to itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-lawyers-of-the-united-states-form-a-party-which-is-but-little/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“There is hardly any political question in the United States that sooner or later does not turn into a judicial question. From that, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/there-is-hardly-any-political-question-in-the-united-states-that/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Lawyers belong to the people by birth and interest, and to the aristocracy by habit and taste; they may be looked upon as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/lawyers-belong-to-the-people-by-birth-and-interest-and-to-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [If you are strong enough, there are no precedents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/if-you-are-strong-enough-there-are-no-precedents/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Stability means respecting precedents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arlen-specter/stability-means-respecting-precedents/) [Arlen Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arlen-specter/) > [It is found by experience that admirable laws and right precedents among the good have their origin in the misdeeds of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/it-is-found-by-experience-that-admirable-laws-and-right-precedents/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [Precedents once established are so much positive power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/precedents-once-established-are-so-much-positive-power/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I think the thing that you've seen with Donald Trump is that he doesn't - he doesn't look to the past and say, 'I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-spicer/i-think-the-thing-that-you-ve-seen-with-donald-trump-is-that-he-doesn/) [Sean Spicer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-spicer/) > [Every lawyer of experience comes to know (more or less unconsciously) that in the great majority of cases, the precedents are none too good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-frank/every-lawyer-of-experience-comes-to-know-more-or-less-unconsciously/) [Jerome Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-frank/) > [Precedents deliberately established by wise men are entitled to great weight. They are evidence of truth, but only evidence...But a solitary precedent...which has never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay/precedents-deliberately-established-by-wise-men-are-entitled-to-great/) [Henry Clay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay/) > [As to precedents, to be sure they will increase in course of time; but the more precedents there are, the less occasion is there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/as-to-precedents-to-be-sure-they-will-increase-in-course-of-time-but/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Precedents are dangerous things; let the rein of government then be braced and held with a steady hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/precedents-are-dangerous-things-let-the-rein-of-government-then-be/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [What is today supported by precedents will hereafter become a precedent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/what-is-today-supported-by-precedents-will-hereafter-become-a/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [When I went to law school, which after all was back in the dark ages, we never looked beyond our borders for precedents. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-day-o-connor/when-i-went-to-law-school-which-after-all-was-back-in-the-dark-ages/) [Sandra Day O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-day-o-connor/) ## More by Alexis de Tocqueville > [All around you everything is on the move,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/all-around-you-everything-is-on-the-move/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [No state of society or laws can render men so much alike but that education, fortune, and tastes will interpose some differences between them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/no-state-of-society-or-laws-can-render-men-so-much-alike-but-that/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-do-not-know-if-the-people-of-the-united-states-would-vote-for/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [What good does it do me, after all, if an ever-watchful authority keeps an eye out to ensure that my pleasures will be tranquil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/what-good-does-it-do-me-after-all-if-an-ever-watchful-authority-keeps/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-greatness-of-america-lies-not-in-being-more-enlightened-than-any/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“I am unacquainted with His designs, but I shall not cease to believe in them because I cannot fathom them, and I had rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-am-unacquainted-with-his-designs-but-i-shall-not-cease-to-believe/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositories of the various creeds and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-questioned-the-faithful-of-all-communions-i-particularly-sought-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/christianity-is-the-companion-of-liberty-in-all-its-conflicts-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [The more alike men are, the weaker each feels in the face of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/the-more-alike-men-are-the-weaker-each-feels-in-the-face-of-all/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“There is a twofold liberty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal. The first is common to man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/there-is-a-twofold-liberty-natural-i-mean-as-our-nature-is-now/) [Alexis De Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Upon my arrival in the United States the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/upon-my-arrival-in-the-united-states-the-religious-aspect-of-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-often-presents-itself-as-the-repairer-of-all-the-ills/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [On this waterlogged landscape…are scattered palaces and hovels…It is here that the human spirit becomes perfect, and at the same time brutalised, that civilisation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/on-this-waterlogged-landscape-are-scattered-palaces-and-hovels-it-is/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-may-govern-without-faith-but-liberty-cannot/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) [Explore all 438 Alexis de Tocqueville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) ## More Law quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. 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