--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our laws make law impossible; our…" description: "\"Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our morality an impudent hypocrisy; our wisdom is a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png" --- # Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all… ![“Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our morality an impudent hypocrisy; our wisdom is administered by inexperienced or mal-experienced dupes; our power wielded by cowards and weaklings; and our honour false in all its points. I am an…” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png) > “Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our morality an impudent hypocrisy; our wisdom is administered by inexperienced or mal-experienced dupes; our power wielded by cowards and weaklings; and our honour false in all its points. I am an enemy of the existing order for good reasons” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Existing institutions are contradictory and corrupt, making them ineffective and unjust. **In simple terms:** Laws and freedoms conflict, leading to hypocrisy. Key Takeaway Question and challenge flawed systems. Themes politics ethics society Mood critical provocative Type political philosophical When to use this quote - voting - activism - policy reform - public discourse Key Concepts institutional critique hypocrisy power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What specific reforms could address these contradictions? - How can individuals act ethically within flawed systems? A Different Perspective Complex issues may need nuanced solutions beyond rebellion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Coward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coward/) [Destroy Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroy-freedom-497464/) [Dupes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dupes/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Honour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honour/) [Hypocrisy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrisy/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Impossible Liberties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible-liberties-2717159/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Law Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-impossible-1227524/) [Liberties Destroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberties-destroy-2717158/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Make Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-law-433293/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Organized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organized/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Robbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/robbery/) ## Related quotes > [“I realize, of course, that it is not true logic to argue--"The world is not as we think it is--therefore everything we think impossible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-realize-of-course-that-it-is-not-true-logic-to-argue-the-world-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A cop's JOB is to violently enforce upon the rest of us whatever arbitrary bullshit the political parasites declare to be "law." It is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larken-rose/a-cop-s-job-is-to-violently-enforce-upon-the-rest-of-us-whatever/) [Larken Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larken-rose/) > [I think there should be no occasion on which it is absolutely, as a point or rule of law, impossible for a man to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-coleridge-1st-baron-coleridge/i-think-there-should-be-no-occasion-on-which-it-is-absolutely-as-a/) [John Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-coleridge-1st-baron-coleridge/) > [“in the informal atmosphere of the Physics Department, appointments were viewed with a certain Heisenbergian skepticism, as though being in the right place at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/in-the-informal-atmosphere-of-the-physics-department-appointments/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [John Marshall's warning that the power to tax is the power to destroy has taken on far greater meaning... more specifically, the power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-grassley/john-marshall-s-warning-that-the-power-to-tax-is-the-power-to-destroy/) [Chuck Grassley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-grassley/) > [There can be no freedom of the individual, no democracy, without the capital system, the profit system, the private enterprise system. These are, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-cornell-leffingwell/there-can-be-no-freedom-of-the-individual-no-democracy-without-the/) [Russell Cornell Leffingwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-cornell-leffingwell/) > [The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/the-jaws-of-power-are-always-open-to-devour-and-her-arm-is-always/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Now, more than ever, the Internet must be wielded along with other media to cast bright lights on all who would destroy freedom in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinton-cerf/now-more-than-ever-the-internet-must-be-wielded-along-with-other/) [Vinton Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinton-cerf/) > [“Just look at us. Everything is backwards, everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, psychiatrists destroy minds, scientists destroy truth, major…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ellner/just-look-at-us-everything-is-backwards-everything-is-upside-down/) [Michael Ellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ellner/) > [Obamacare is going to destroy our economy and destroy our freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-broun/obamacare-is-going-to-destroy-our-economy-and-destroy-our-freedom/) [Paul Broun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-broun/) > [How can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to protect? Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/how-can-we-keep-the-government-we-create-from-becoming-a-frankenstein/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [We live in a nation where governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/we-live-in-a-nation-where-governments-destroy-freedom-the-press/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [I say further that for this great legislative body to ignore the Constitution and the fundamental concepts of our governmental system is to act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/i-say-further-that-for-this-great-legislative-body-to-ignore-the/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [They can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/they-can-make-no-law-which-will-not-have-its-full-operation-on/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [Law is downstream from culture. By the time you make a law about something, you're reacting, not acting. I'd rather shape the culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/law-is-downstream-from-culture-by-the-time-you-make-a-law-about/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. 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/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Coward quotes > [Only a coward will use a gun to protect and get respect for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-jal/only-a-coward-will-use-a-gun-to-protect-and-get-respect-for-themselves/) [Emmanuel Jal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-jal/) > [“The Coward will run away from danger, only to strike in the dark. The Heroine will run through the dark, even though she knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-a-cleinman/the-coward-will-run-away-from-danger-only-to-strike-in-the-dark-the/) [David A. Cleinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-a-cleinman/) > [“A thousand times a coward and not once a dead man”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suad-amiry/a-thousand-times-a-coward-and-not-once-a-dead-man/) [Suad Amiry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suad-amiry/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [“It is true that only a coward can be brave, as a man who feels no fear has conquered nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conn-david-iggulden/it-is-true-that-only-a-coward-can-be-brave-as-a-man-who-feels-no-fear/) [Conn & David Iggulden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conn-david-iggulden/) > [If you're a generous person, when you get money and fame, you're going to be more generous. If you're a sharer, you're going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-harvey/if-you-re-a-generous-person-when-you-get-money-and-fame-you-re-going/) [Steve Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-harvey/) > [Where is the coward that would not dare to fight for such a land as Scotland?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/where-is-the-coward-that-would-not-dare-to-fight-for-such-a-land-as/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [“To stand at the very moment when all seems lost is the point of insanity for the coward, but it is the home of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-stand-at-the-very-moment-when-all-seems-lost-is-the-point-of/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [My advice to you, if you should ever be in a hold up, is to line up with the cowards and save your bravery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/my-advice-to-you-if-you-should-ever-be-in-a-hold-up-is-to-line-up/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [People who keep dogs are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/people-who-keep-dogs-are-cowards-who-haven-t-got-the-guts-to-bite/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Is there cowardice with the acknowledgement of fear?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-zusak/is-there-cowardice-with-the-acknowledgement-of-fear/) [Markus Zusak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-zusak/) > [It is the disease of cowards, who do not have the courage to speak upfront and so talk behind one's back... Watch out against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/it-is-the-disease-of-cowards-who-do-not-have-the-courage-to-speak/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [If our principles are right, why should we be cowards?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretia-mott/if-our-principles-are-right-why-should-we-be-cowards/) [Lucretia Mott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretia-mott/) > [I found from working on the film that I am a bigot, at times. And that I am also a coward, at times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-howard/i-found-from-working-on-the-film-that-i-am-a-bigot-at-times-and-that/) [Terrence Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-howard/) > [A coward is the kindest animal; 'Tis the most forgiving creature in a fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/a-coward-is-the-kindest-animal-tis-the-most-forgiving-creature-in-a/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) [Browse all 1,331 Coward quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coward/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our morality an impudent hypocrisy; our wisdom is administered by inexperienced or mal-experienced dupes; our power wielded by cowards and weaklings; and our honour false in all its points. I am an enemy of the existing order for good reasons", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberties-destroy-all-freedom-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Coward" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberties-destroy-all-freedom-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ef/george-bernard-shaw-68_coward_our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberti_1889174.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our laws make law impossible; our liberties destroy all freedom; our property is organized robbery; our…” — George Bernard Shaw", "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": "George Bernard Shaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Our laws make law impossible; our...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberties-destroy-all-freedom-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/our-laws-make-law-impossible-our-liberties-destroy-all-freedom-our/#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 } } ] } ```