--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Law is any application for the official…" description: "\"Law is any application for the official use of coercion that succeeds.\" — Bob Black" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a8/bob-black-24650_application_law-is-any-application-for-the-official_2980859.jpg" --- # Law is any application for the official use of coercion… ![“Law is any application for the official use of coercion that succeeds.” quote by Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a8/bob-black-24650_application_law-is-any-application-for-the-official_2980859.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a8/bob-black-24650_application_law-is-any-application-for-the-official_2980859.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0a8/bob-black-24650_application_law-is-any-application-for-the-official_2980859.jpg) > “Law is any application for the official use of coercion that succeeds.” [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Law is merely a tool of coercion that succeeds when it is applied by authorities. **In simple terms:** Law is successful coercion. Key Takeaway Question the legitimacy of legal authority. Themes law coercion authority Mood critical provocative Type political philosophical When to use this quote - civil disobedience - policy critique - social movements Key Concepts political theory critical legal studies Questions to Reflect On - Is all law inherently oppressive? - When is coercion justified? A Different Perspective Legal systems can protect rights too. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Application](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/application/) [Coercion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coercion/) [Coercion Succeeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coercion-succeeds-4635901/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Law Application](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-application-4635902/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Official Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/official-use-2427510/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Use Coercion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use-coercion-1690604/) ## Related quotes > [If we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/if-we-wish-to-preserve-a-free-society-it-is-essential-that-we/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [“Psi technology had come far enough to use coercion, if necessary, as well as the usual inter-dimensional cloaking to avoid detection. 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Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcha-a-fox/) > [“It is the very use of coercion, positive or negative, that breaks or deadens the spirit, which is the source of motivation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-bryson/it-is-the-very-use-of-coercion-positive-or-negative-that-breaks-or/) [Kelly Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-bryson/) > [If God himself was not willing to use coercion to force man to accept certain religious views, man, uninspired and liable to error, ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/if-god-himself-was-not-willing-to-use-coercion-to-force-man-to-accept/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [You have tens, hundreds of thousands of people in government, and just as many among contractors, who feel totally comfortable writing at the top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-gup/you-have-tens-hundreds-of-thousands-of-people-in-government-and-just/) [Ted Gup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-gup/) > [The state is the only institution entitled to apply coercion and compulsion and to inflict harm upon individuals. This tremendous power cannot be abandoned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-state-is-the-only-institution-entitled-to-apply-coercion-and/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [ \[Libertarians\] don't denounce what the state does, they just object to who's doing it. This is why the people most victimized by the state… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/libertarians-don-t-denounce-what-the-state-does-they-just-object-to/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [“Men are moral beings in their untrammelled nature. If constraint and coercion can once be removed they will be happy and if they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-unsworth/men-are-moral-beings-in-their-untrammelled-nature-if-constraint-and/) [Barry Unsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-unsworth/) > [Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. 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It has no other function and can work no other way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-mcdurmon/love-is-not-coercion-and-the-state-is-only-an-agent-of-coercion-it/) [Joel McDurmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-mcdurmon/) > [Coercion is the basis of every law in the universe,--human or divine. A law is not law without coercion behind it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/coercion-is-the-basis-of-every-law-in-the-universe-human-or-divine-a/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [People forget that there is a big difference between coercion and persuasion. The idea that evangelism is coercive is nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-dever/people-forget-that-there-is-a-big-difference-between-coercion-and/) [Mark Dever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-dever/) ## More by Bob Black > [You are what you do. 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Play isn't passive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/i-call-for-a-collective-adventure-in-generalized-joy-and-freely-2/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Cleansed of its leftist residues, anarchy - anarchism minus Marxism - will be free to get better at being what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/cleansed-of-its-leftist-residues-anarchy-anarchism-minus-marxism-will/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [The reinvention of daily life means marching off the edge of our maps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/the-reinvention-of-daily-life-means-marching-off-the-edge-of-our-maps/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [ \[Libertarians\] don't denounce what the state does, they just object to who's doing it. This is why the people most victimized by the state… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/libertarians-don-t-denounce-what-the-state-does-they-just-object-to/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid monotonous work, chances are you'll end up boring, stupid and monotonous. Work is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/you-are-what-you-do-if-you-do-boring-stupid-monotonous-work-chances-2/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Play is always voluntary. What might otherwise be play is work if it's forced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/play-is-always-voluntary-what-might-otherwise-be-play-is-work-if-it-s/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Unlike side issues like unemployment, unions, and minimum-wage laws, the subject of work itself is almost entirely absent from libertarian literature. Most of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/unlike-side-issues-like-unemployment-unions-and-minimum-wage-laws-the/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [To demonize state authoritarianism while ignoring identical albeit contract-consecrated subservient arrangements in the large-scale corporations which control the world economy is fetishism at its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/to-demonize-state-authoritarianism-while-ignoring-identical-albeit/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) [Explore all 24 Bob Black quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) ## More Application quotes > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. 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