--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Did you really think we want those laws…" description: "\"“Did you really think we want those laws observed?\" said Dr. Ferris. \"We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/ayn-rand-59_boy-scout_did-you-really-think-we-want-those-laws_549999.jpg" --- # Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said… ![“Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the…” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/ayn-rand-59_boy-scout_did-you-really-think-we-want-those-laws_549999.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/ayn-rand-59_boy-scout_did-you-really-think-we-want-those-laws_549999.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/744/ayn-rand-59_boy-scout_did-you-really-think-we-want-those-laws_549999.jpg) > ““Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.”” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker argues that laws are designed to be unobservable and unenforceable, creating a society of criminals to profit from guilt. **In simple terms:** Laws are made to be broken to profit from crime. Key Takeaway Recognize how power can manipulate legal systems. Themes politics power law ethics control Mood cynical critical skeptical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political strategy - legal reform - activism - public policy - media analysis Key Concepts authoritarianism social engineering legal manipulation Questions to Reflect On - Who benefits from creating unbreakable laws? - Can a society function without enforceable laws? A Different Perspective The argument assumes all governments act solely for profit, ignoring moral constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boy scout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boy-scout/) [Breaking Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-laws-1957879/) [Law Abiding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-abiding-396050/) [Laws Observed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-observed-2528919/) [Laws Wants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-wants-3531738/) [Want Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-laws-1062944/) ## Related quotes > [“Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them broken. You’d better get it straight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/did-you-really-think-that-we-want-those-laws-to-be-observed-said-dr/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. 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One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/the-only-power-any-government-has-is-the-power-to-crack-down-on/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-s-no-way-to-rule-innocent-men-the-only-power-any-government-has/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [For as good habits of the people require good laws to support them, so laws, to be observed, need good habits on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/for-as-good-habits-of-the-people-require-good-laws-to-support-them-so/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Because just as good morals, if they are to be maintained, have need of the laws, so the laws, if they are to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/because-just-as-good-morals-if-they-are-to-be-maintained-have-need-of/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [“When a fixed code of laws, which must be observed to the letter, leaves no further care to the judge than to examine the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-beccaria/when-a-fixed-code-of-laws-which-must-be-observed-to-the-letter-leaves/) [Cesare Beccaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-beccaria/) > [Propriety is the least of all laws, and the most observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/propriety-is-the-least-of-all-laws-and-the-most-observed/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [I stand ready to negotiate, but I want no part of laws: I acknowledge none; I protest against every order with which some authority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/i-stand-ready-to-negotiate-but-i-want-no-part-of-laws-i-acknowledge/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) > [The French want to regain control of their own country. They want to determine the course of their own economy and their immigration policies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/the-french-want-to-regain-control-of-their-own-country-they-want-to/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The Tea Partiers don't want all regulations eliminated. They just want laws that can be understood and regulations that aren't going to destroy businesses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-boortz/the-tea-partiers-don-t-want-all-regulations-eliminated-they-just-want/) [Neal Boortz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-boortz/) > [We want laws to be applied predictably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/we-want-laws-to-be-applied-predictably/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [I want almost no laws, I want the smallest government possible. I don't want anyone telling anyone what to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-mcinnes/i-want-almost-no-laws-i-want-the-smallest-government-possible-i-don-t/) [Gavin McInnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-mcinnes/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. 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She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Boy scout quotes > [“What have you been doing to yourself, Belinda? Girl, you’ve got more knots in your shoulders than are listed in the Boy Scout handbook.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-johnson/what-have-you-been-doing-to-yourself-belinda-girl-you-ve-got-more/) [Cat Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-johnson/) > [“He shifts so that I can see him better, then draws an "x" over his heart. I raise a brow, and he lifts two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-kenner/he-shifts-so-that-i-can-see-him-better-then-draws-an-x-over-his-heart/) [J. Kenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-kenner/) > [Everybody owned stock in the Capone mob; in a way, he was a public benefactor. I remember one time when he arrived at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-alinsky/everybody-owned-stock-in-the-capone-mob-in-a-way-he-was-a-public/) [Saul Alinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-alinsky/) > [“ Today You Soar "Like the grand eagle, you spread your wings And put forth the effort to do great things. Looking skyward you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/today-you-soar-like-the-grand-eagle-you-spread-your-wings-and-put/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [I never had any interest in being involved with the Boy Scouts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/i-never-had-any-interest-in-being-involved-with-the-boy-scouts/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I drove my Mum crazy, because I wouldn't go out and play football or join the Boy Scouts, I'd just sit at home and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-moore/i-drove-my-mum-crazy-because-i-wouldn-t-go-out-and-play-football-or/) [Gary Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-moore/) > [“Why the fuck did I know what any of these terms meant, you might wonder? Because my soulless arse did Armani and Balmain campaigns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/why-the-fuck-did-i-know-what-any-of-these-terms-meant-you-might/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [A fisherman does not bait his hook with food he likes. He uses food the fish likes. 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Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. 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