--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once the state starts providing, it feels…" description: "\"“Once the state starts providing, it feels free to hand out the rules, too!\" Larch blurted hastily. ...\"In a better world...\" she began patiently. \"No,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-irving-337_abortion_once-the-state-starts-providing-it-feels_2571653.jpg" --- # Once the state starts providing, it feels free to hand out… ![“Once the state starts providing, it feels free to hand out the rules, too!" Larch blurted hastily. ..."In a better world..." she began patiently. "No, not in a better world!" he cried. "In this one--in this world. I take this world as a given. Talk to me about this world!" ... "Oh, I can't always…” quote by John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-irving-337_abortion_once-the-state-starts-providing-it-feels_2571653.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-irving-337_abortion_once-the-state-starts-providing-it-feels_2571653.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0c/john-irving-337_abortion_once-the-state-starts-providing-it-feels_2571653.jpg) > ““Once the state starts providing, it feels free to hand out the rules, too!" Larch blurted hastily. ..."In a better world..." she began patiently. "No, not in a better world!" he cried. "In this one--in this world. I take this world as a given. Talk to me about this world!" ... "Oh, I can't always be right," Larch said tiredly. "Yes, I know," Nurse Caroline said sympathetically. "It's because even a good man can't always be right that we need a society, that we need certain rules--call them priorities, if you prefer," she said. ... Always in the background of his mind, there was a newborn baby crying... And they were not crying to be born, he knew; they were crying because they were born.”” [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rules arise from societal needs, but personal experience and moral doubt constantly challenge them. **In simple terms:** Rules exist, yet personal doubts arise. Key Takeaway Balance societal rules with personal conscience. Themes society rules morality Mood thoughtful conflicted Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - lawmaking - parenting - ethical debates Key Concepts ethical relativism human experience Questions to Reflect On - When should personal conscience override rules? - How do we negotiate conflicting moral priorities? A Different Perspective Rigid rules can suppress individual nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abortion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abortion/) [Better world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-world/) [Crying Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crying-born-1697154/) [Good man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-man/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Mind Newborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind-newborn-1697155/) [Need Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/need-society-298043/) [Newborn baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/newborn-baby/) [Providing Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/providing-feels-1697157/) [Rules](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rules/) [Starts Providing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starts-providing-1697156/) ## Related quotes > [“I have heard the summer dust crying to be born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/i-have-heard-the-summer-dust-crying-to-be-born/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [What I know now is that I used to not just tolerate but submit to and even on some deep level need our society's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chatterton-williams/what-i-know-now-is-that-i-used-to-not-just-tolerate-but-submit-to-and/) [Thomas Chatterton Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chatterton-williams/) > [School is the advertising agency which makes you believe that you need the society as it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-illich/school-is-the-advertising-agency-which-makes-you-believe-that-you/) [Ivan Illich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-illich/) > [For many of us, especially women, the gap between what we want or need and what our society expects of us is wide indeed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/for-many-of-us-especially-women-the-gap-between-what-we-want-or-need/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [We need society, and we need solitude also, as we need summer and winter, day and night, exercise and rest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/we-need-society-and-we-need-solitude-also-as-we-need-summer-and/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [People often say that they want to move away to smaller cities for a better lifestyle and peace, but as a single girl, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shweta-tripathi/people-often-say-that-they-want-to-move-away-to-smaller-cities-for-a/) [Shweta Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shweta-tripathi/) > [“Who gets to celebrate this cosmic view in life? 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We need a society and economy which complement each other. We need to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/economic-development-cannot-take-a-nation-forward-on-its-own-we-need/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [We are all equal, rich and poor, and we need a society where the people enjoy their rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-bertrand-aristide/we-are-all-equal-rich-and-poor-and-we-need-a-society-where-the-people/) [Jean-Bertrand Aristide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-bertrand-aristide/) > [Either the rest of the world can't live like the developed world or we need, as a society, to think more about the technology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-graedel/either-the-rest-of-the-world-can-t-live-like-the-developed-world-or/) [Thomas Graedel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-graedel/) ## More by John Irving > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. 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Miss Frost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/nostalgia-miss-frost-cried-you-re-nostalgic-she-repeated-just-how-old/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [ “JUST BECAUSE A BUNCH OF ATHEISTS ARE BETTER WRITERS THAN THE GUYS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE THEM RIGHT!" \[Owen Meany\] said… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/just-because-a-bunch-of-atheists-are-better-writers-than-the-guys-who/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is much easier to be flexible about where a story begins than it ever was for me to change my mind about where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/it-is-much-easier-to-be-flexible-about-where-a-story-begins-than-it/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Only the chicken-lover will understand me. He will give me a kindly look, maybe mildly desirous. 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Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-w-lynn/) [Browse all 1,629 Abortion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abortion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Once the state starts providing, it feels free to hand out the rules, too!\" Larch blurted hastily. ...\"In a better world...\" she began patiently. \"No, not in a better world!\" he cried. \"In this one--in this world. I take this world as a given. Talk to me about this world!\" ... \"Oh, I can't always be right,\" Larch said tiredly. \"Yes, I know,\" Nurse Caroline said sympathetically. \"It's because even a good man can't always be right that we need a society, that we need certain rules--call them priorities, if you prefer,\" she said. ... Always in the background of his mind, there was a newborn baby crying... 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