--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can free things from alien or…" description: "\"You can free things from alien or accidental laws, but not from the laws of their own nature. You may, if you like, free a tiger from his bars; but do ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_aliens_you-can-free-things-from-alien-or-accide_2593463.png" --- # You can free things from alien or accidental laws, but not… ![“You can free things from alien or accidental laws, but not from the laws of their own nature. You may, if you like, free a tiger from his bars; but do not free him from his stripes.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_aliens_you-can-free-things-from-alien-or-accide_2593463.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_aliens_you-can-free-things-from-alien-or-accide_2593463.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d1/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_aliens_you-can-free-things-from-alien-or-accide_2593463.png) > “You can free things from alien or accidental laws, but not from the laws of their own nature. You may, if you like, free a tiger from his bars; but do not free him from his stripes.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. You can free beings from external constraints but not from their inherent nature. **In simple terms:** You can’t change a being’s nature. Key Takeaway Respect natural limits. Themes freedom nature constraints ethics Mood thoughtful ethical Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - animal welfare - policy making - personal expectations Key Concepts philosophy literature Questions to Reflect On - What are the limits of freedom? - How do you honor innate traits? A Different Perspective Attempting to alter nature may cause suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidental Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidental-laws-1881708/) [Aliens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliens/) [Bars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bars/) [Free things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-things/) [Free Tiger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-tiger-1881707/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Laws Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-laws-1881709/) [Laws Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-nature/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Stripes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stripes/) [Tigers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tigers/) ## Related quotes > [Immigration laws are the only laws that are discussed in terms of how to help people who break them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/immigration-laws-are-the-only-laws-that-are-discussed-in-terms-of-how/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Who alone suffers suffers most i' th' mind, Leaving free things and happy shows behind; But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/who-alone-suffers-suffers-most-i-th-mind-leaving-free-things-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The best things in life are free - and $19.95.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-mays/the-best-things-in-life-are-free-and-19-95/) [Billy Mays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-mays/) > [“Mirabelle knows, and she lets this be unspoken, that all free things require conversation. 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The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Aliens quotes > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-connell/my-days-the-blossom-of-my-youth-and-the-flower-of-my-manhood-have/) [Daniel O'Connell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-connell/) > [Ay-firmative,' Eve said, and tried for a smile. 'Sorry. An Aliens reference always makes me feel better at times like this. 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