--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny." description: "\"Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.\" — Edmund Burke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg" --- # Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny. ![“Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.” quote by Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg) > “Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.” [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bad laws impose oppressive control, limiting freedom and justice. **In simple terms:** Unjust laws are oppressive. Key Takeaway Challenge unjust laws. Themes justice freedom government Mood critical concerned Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - legal reform - civil rights - policy critique Key Concepts political philosophy rule of law Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens effectively oppose unjust legislation? - What safeguards protect against tyrannical laws? A Different Perspective Laws may be entrenched and hard to change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-laws/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) ## Related quotes > [“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/) > [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/) > [We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-bickel/we-cannot-by-total-reliance-on-law-escape-the-duty-to-judge-right-and/) Alexander Bickel > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [“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 > [“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 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/) > [ 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/) ## More by Edmund Burke > [It is the interest of the commercial world that wealth should be found everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/it-is-the-interest-of-the-commercial-world-that-wealth-should-be/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. But the truth is, this unnatural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/many-of-the-greatest-tyrants-on-the-records-of-history-have-begun/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Wise men will apply their remedies to vices, not to names; to the causes of evil which are permanent, not to the occasional organs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/wise-men-will-apply-their-remedies-to-vices-not-to-names-to-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [My vigour relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/my-vigour-relents-i-pardon-something-to-the-spirit-of-liberty/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The great must submit to the dominion of prudence and of virtue, or none will long submit to the dominion of thegreat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-great-must-submit-to-the-dominion-of-prudence-and-of-virtue-or/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [What is it we all seek for in an election? To answer its real purposes, you must first possess the means of knowing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/what-is-it-we-all-seek-for-in-an-election-to-answer-its-real-purposes/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/society-is-indeed-a-contract-it-is-a-partnership-in-all-science-a/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [You can never plan the future by the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/you-can-never-plan-the-future-by-the-past/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The great inlet by which a colour for oppression has entered into the world is by one man's pretending to determine concerning the happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-great-inlet-by-which-a-colour-for-oppression-has-entered-into-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [By the disposition of a stupendous wisdom, moulding together the great mysterious incorporation of the human race, the whole, at one time, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/by-the-disposition-of-a-stupendous-wisdom-moulding-together-the-great/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Religion, to have any force upon men's understandings,--indeed, to exist at all,--must be supposed paramount to law, and independent for its substance upon any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/religion-to-have-any-force-upon-men-s-understandings-indeed-to-exist/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Explore all 595 Edmund Burke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-bickel/we-cannot-by-total-reliance-on-law-escape-the-duty-to-judge-right-and/) Alexander Bickel > [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": "Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edmund Burke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bad laws" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e6/edmund-burke-400_law_bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny-9_924041.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.” — Edmund Burke", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edmund Burke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Bad laws are the worst sort...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/bad-laws-are-the-worst-sort-of-tyranny/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```