--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Taking the law into your own hands, fuck…" description: "\"“Taking the law into your own hands, fuck what's wrong with that?”\" — Joyce Carol Oates" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/joyce-carol-oates-344_law_taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands-fuck_1240047.png" --- # Taking the law into your own hands, fuck what's wrong with… ![“Taking the law into your own hands, fuck what's wrong with that?” quote by Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/joyce-carol-oates-344_law_taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands-fuck_1240047.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/joyce-carol-oates-344_law_taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands-fuck_1240047.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/joyce-carol-oates-344_law_taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands-fuck_1240047.png) > ““Taking the law into your own hands, fuck what's wrong with that?”” [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questioning vigilantism and moral ambiguity in personal justice **In simple terms:** Is taking law into your own hands ever justified? Key Takeaway Consider consequences before acting outside law Themes justice morality individualism Mood conflicted provocative Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal conflict - legal protest - self‑defense Key Concepts ethical relativism civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - What values guide your sense of justice? - When does personal revenge become harmful? A Different Perspective May ignore due process and cause chaos ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fuck Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fuck-wrong-1615590/) [Hands Fuck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-fuck-3048396/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Law Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law-hands-977868/) [Taking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking/) [Taking Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-law-2239625/) ## Related quotes > [We must not be guilty of taking the law into our own hands, and converting it from what it really is to what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/we-must-not-be-guilty-of-taking-the-law-into-our-own-hands-and/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [In 'Maatr,' we do not justify taking the law into our hands. That's not the right thing to do. We are not promoting that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raveena-tandon/in-maatr-we-do-not-justify-taking-the-law-into-our-hands-that-s-not/) [Raveena Tandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raveena-tandon/) > [I'd rather fucking with my hands than fuck with a hoe!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myself/i-d-rather-fucking-with-my-hands-than-fuck-with-a-hoe/) [Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myself/) > [Before taking up law, I studied medicine for six months and then tried my hand at fashion designing for another six months. I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mawra-hocane/before-taking-up-law-i-studied-medicine-for-six-months-and-then-tried/) [Mawra Hocane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mawra-hocane/) > [“I wanted to ask her what the fuck was wrong but I had a date with a pack of skittish whores.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-vachss/i-wanted-to-ask-her-what-the-fuck-was-wrong-but-i-had-a-date-with-a/) [Andrew Vachss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-vachss/) > [I do fucked up shit! I dont even know what the fuck is wrong with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-do-fucked-up-shit-i-dont-even-know-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [~Tell me what the fuck is wrong with me~](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/tell-me-what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fuck with me wrong, take me out my zone. And I'll knock the motherfuckin' snow off your cone, my nigga.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/fuck-with-me-wrong-take-me-out-my-zone-and-i-ll-knock-the/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [“What the fuck is wrong with you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [I thought I found the girl of my dreams on hot or not mm-mm Fuck it, I was wrong though!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-angel-bello/i-thought-i-found-the-girl-of-my-dreams-on-hot-or-not-mm-mm-fuck-it-i/) [Fernando Angel Bello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-angel-bello/) > [“Anyone shall take law in their hands, but not a judge and I call it as professional ethics.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/anyone-shall-take-law-in-their-hands-but-not-a-judge-and-i-call-it-as/) [P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/) > [“All the law is not in the hands of Giant Despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-the-law-is-not-in-the-hands-of-giant-despair/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Judges who take the law into their own hands, who make up constitutional 'rights' in order to strike down laws they oppose, undermine the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-hatch/judges-who-take-the-law-into-their-own-hands-who-make-up/) [Orrin Hatch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-hatch/) > [Whenever men take the law into their own hands, the loser is the law. And when the law loses, freedom languishes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kennedy/whenever-men-take-the-law-into-their-own-hands-the-loser-is-the-law/) [Robert Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kennedy/) > [“We hold there is no worse enemy to a state than he who keeps the law in his own hands.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-hamilton/we-hold-there-is-no-worse-enemy-to-a-state-than-he-who-keeps-the-law/) [Edith Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-hamilton/) ## More by Joyce Carol Oates > [“A woman who has lost her husband is invalid, thus an invalid. In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-woman-who-has-lost-her-husband-is-invalid-thus-an-invalid-in/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Running! If there's any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can't think of what it might be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/running-if-there-s-any-activity-happier-more-exhilarating-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [You need so much energy and encouragement to write that if someone says something negative, some of that energy goes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/you-need-so-much-energy-and-encouragement-to-write-that-if-someone/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I learned long ago that being Lewis Carroll was infinitely more exciting than being Alice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-learned-long-ago-that-being-lewis-carroll-was-infinitely-more/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/paradox-how-do-we-know-what-we-have-failed-to-see-because-we-have-no/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [At all crucial moments in our lives we want to speak without knowing what to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/at-all-crucial-moments-in-our-lives-we-want-to-speak-without-knowing/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [A writer’s life is in his work, and that is the place to find him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/a-writer-s-life-is-in-his-work-and-that-is-the-place-to-find-him/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The challenge is to resist circumstances. Any idiot can be happy in a happy place, but moral courage is required to be happy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-challenge-is-to-resist-circumstances-any-idiot-can-be-happy-in-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-first-sentence-cant-be-written-until-the-final-sentence-is-written/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Did you know, Marianne: how by breaking the code that day, you broke it forever? For us all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/did-you-know-marianne-how-by-breaking-the-code-that-day-you-broke-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > ['The Accursed' is very much a novel about social injustice as the consequence of the terrible, tragic division of classes - the exploitation not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-accursed-is-very-much-a-novel-about-social-injustice-as-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keep-a-light-hopeful-heart-but-expect-the-worst/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unspeakable-taboo-that-evil-is/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I don't think that writer's block exists really. I think that when you're trying to do something prematurely, it just won't come. Certain subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-don-t-think-that-writer-s-block-exists-really-i-think-that-when-you/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [... such speculation is like staring into the hot white sun. you know the sun is there but you can't see a thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/such-speculation-is-like-staring-into-the-hot-white-sun-you-know-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) [Explore all 658 Joyce Carol Oates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## More Law quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. 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