--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel…" description: "\"Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel. And the people who live only by the law are both wrong and cruel.\" — Ardel Wray" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5a/ardel-wray-70885_cruelty_laws-can-be-wrong-and-laws-can-be-cruel_2645450.jpg" --- # Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel. And the people… ![“Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel. And the people who live only by the law are both wrong and cruel.” quote by Ardel Wray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5a/ardel-wray-70885_cruelty_laws-can-be-wrong-and-laws-can-be-cruel_2645450.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5a/ardel-wray-70885_cruelty_laws-can-be-wrong-and-laws-can-be-cruel_2645450.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5a/ardel-wray-70885_cruelty_laws-can-be-wrong-and-laws-can-be-cruel_2645450.jpg) > “Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel. And the people who live only by the law are both wrong and cruel.” Ardel Wray ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Laws may be unjust or harsh, and those who follow them blindly can also be immoral. **In simple terms:** Laws can be wrong; blind followers can be cruel. Key Takeaway Question authority and act ethically. Themes ethics law justice Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical provocative When to use this quote - activism - policy reform - personal conscience Key Concepts morality authority civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - When should one defy an unjust law? - What alternatives exist to blind obedience? A Different Perspective Legal systems are complex; change is slow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cruel People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruel-people/) [Cruelty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Religious canons, civil laws, are cruel; then what should war be?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/religious-canons-civil-laws-are-cruel-then-what-should-war-be/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Is it not possible that an individual may be right and a government wrong? Are laws to be enforced simply because they were made?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/is-it-not-possible-that-an-individual-may-be-right-and-a-government/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Just because someone gets arrested doesn't mean what they are doing is wrong. Some laws are unfair and unjust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-robbins/just-because-someone-gets-arrested-doesn-t-mean-what-they-are-doing/) [Tim Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-robbins/) > [“Once it's no longer accepted that something is wrong, all the laws in the world will avail you naught. The law functions as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/once-it-s-no-longer-accepted-that-something-is-wrong-all-the-laws-in/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [If that form of government, that system of social order is not wrong - if those laws of the Southern States, by virtue of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bacon/if-that-form-of-government-that-system-of-social-order-is-not-wrong/) Leonard Bacon > [“Cruel people offer pity when they no longer feel threatened. However, kind people offer compassion and understanding regardless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/cruel-people-offer-pity-when-they-no-longer-feel-threatened-however/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“I wasn't built to look the other way because the law demanded it. The law might be wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/i-wasn-t-built-to-look-the-other-way-because-the-law-demanded-it-the/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [If the law is wrong, it is for politicians to sort it out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-grayling/if-the-law-is-wrong-it-is-for-politicians-to-sort-it-out/) [Chris Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-grayling/) > [“Young rookie coppers no longer knew how to communicate with people. They were taught aggression, not law, and that was wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-ellis/young-rookie-coppers-no-longer-knew-how-to-communicate-with-people/) [Joy Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-ellis/) > [The only thing that can set aside a law as wrong is a better law, or an idea of a better law. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ernest-hocking/the-only-thing-that-can-set-aside-a-law-as-wrong-is-a-better-law-or/) [William Ernest Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ernest-hocking/) > [“Whatever goes against the Book of Law will make you feel a funny sensation in your solar plexus, and it’s called fear. Breaking the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ruiz/whatever-goes-against-the-book-of-law-will-make-you-feel-a-funny/) [Miguel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ruiz/) > [The State of New York City says in defense you can use as much force as you feel like the person that is coming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-jackson/the-state-of-new-york-city-says-in-defense-you-can-use-as-much-force/) [Curtis Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-jackson/) > [It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-after-you-have-realized-that-there-is-a-real-moral-law-and-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everything he's done is clean as a whistle. He's never not only broken any law, he's never done anything wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/everything-he-s-done-is-clean-as-a-whistle-he-s-never-not-only-broken/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) > [“I know not whether laws be right or whether laws be wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-know-not-whether-laws-be-right-or-whether-laws-be-wrong/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Ardel Wray > [I've learned one thing about life. We're a good deal like that ball, dancing on the fountain. We know as little about the forces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardel-wray/i-ve-learned-one-thing-about-life-we-re-a-good-deal-like-that-ball/) Ardel Wray > [The horseman on the pale horse is Pestilence. He follows the wars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardel-wray/the-horseman-on-the-pale-horse-is-pestilence-he-follows-the-wars/) Ardel Wray > [Fight death all your days, and die knowing you know nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardel-wray/fight-death-all-your-days-and-die-knowing-you-know-nothing/) Ardel Wray Explore all 4 Ardel Wray quotes ## More Cruelty quotes > [It revealed a cruelty that really made one wonder if the universe was such a good idea after all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-lindsay/it-revealed-a-cruelty-that-really-made-one-wonder-if-the-universe-was/) [Jeff Lindsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-lindsay/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I could not have slept tonight if I had left that helpless little creature to perish on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-could-not-have-slept-tonight-if-i-had-left-that-helpless-little/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [There's a certain edge about cruelty. If you're honest about it, most people wince, but say it had to be said.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-waterman/there-s-a-certain-edge-about-cruelty-if-you-re-honest-about-it-most/) [Pete Waterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-waterman/) > [He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daphne-du-maurier/he-lacked-tenderness-he-was-rude-and-he-had-more-than-a-streak-of/) [Daphne du Maurier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daphne-du-maurier/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) James Nayler > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Regarding lack of vision or disabilities of the organ of sight, it has long been known among researchers that it is the effect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/regarding-lack-of-vision-or-disabilities-of-the-organ-of-sight-it-has/) [Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/) > [“When you’re a monster, she thought, you are thanked and praised for not behaving like a monster. 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That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You must learn that to endure cruelty is to become cruel yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bleach/you-must-learn-that-to-endure-cruelty-is-to-become-cruel-yourself/) [Bleach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bleach/) > [“in every pleasure, cruelty has its place...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/in-every-pleasure-cruelty-has-its-place/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Old people deserves a medal, a medal of existence which crowns their long-term victory against the cruelty of time and the dangers of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/old-people-deserves-a-medal-a-medal-of-existence-which-crowns-their/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) [Browse all 1,675 Cruelty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cruelty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel. 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