--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch…" description: "\"Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.\" — Jonathan Swift" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/jonathan-swift-433_break_laws-are-like-cobwebs-which-may-catch-sm_506065.jpg" --- # Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but… ![“Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” quote by Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/jonathan-swift-433_break_laws-are-like-cobwebs-which-may-catch-sm_506065.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/jonathan-swift-433_break_laws-are-like-cobwebs-which-may-catch-sm_506065.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/jonathan-swift-433_break_laws-are-like-cobwebs-which-may-catch-sm_506065.jpg) > “Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Laws are compared to cobwebs that trap small insects but let larger ones pass. **In simple terms:** Laws often catch minor offenses but miss major ones. Key Takeaway Reform legal systems to address serious threats. Themes law justice inequality Mood analytical critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - government - criminal justice - civil rights Key Concepts legal reform policy analysis Questions to Reflect On - How can laws be balanced for all scales? - What reforms would catch larger threats? A Different Perspective Complex laws may be necessary for nuanced cases. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Cobwebs Catch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cobwebs-catch-4299669/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Laws Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws-like-437594/) [Let Wasps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-wasps-4299670/) [Like Cobwebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-cobwebs-882437/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Simile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simile/) [Small Flies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-flies-2284329/) ## Related quotes > [ One of the Seven \[wise men of Greece\] was wont to say: That laws were like cobwebs, where the small flies are caught and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/one-of-the-seven-wise-men-of-greece-was-wont-to-say-that-laws-were/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Vague memories hang about the mind like cobwebs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/vague-memories-hang-about-the-mind-like-cobwebs/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Laws are not made like lime-twigs or nets, to catch everything that toucheth them; but rather like sea-marks, to guide from shipwreck the ignorant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/laws-are-not-made-like-lime-twigs-or-nets-to-catch-everything-that/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Laws are like spiders webs which, if anything small falls into them they ensnare it, but large things break through and escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solon/laws-are-like-spiders-webs-which-if-anything-small-falls-into-them/) [Solon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solon/) > [“There must be a lot of duplication in our country’s laws," said Dukhi. 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