--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The wit of man has devised cruel…" description: "\"The wit of man has devised cruel statutes, And nature oft permits what is by law forbid.\" — Ovid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png" --- # The wit of man has devised cruel statutes, And nature oft… ![“The wit of man has devised cruel statutes, And nature oft permits what is by law forbid.” quote by Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png) > “The wit of man has devised cruel statutes, And nature oft permits what is by law forbid.” [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human laws often conflict with natural order, allowing harmful practices that should be illegal. **In simple terms:** Laws can be cruel and ignore nature. Key Takeaway Question laws that harm nature. Themes law morality human nature Mood reflective critical Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - policy making - environmental activism - legal reform Key Concepts ethical philosophy natural law Questions to Reflect On - How can societies align law with natural ethics? - What examples show law failing nature? A Different Perspective Laws alone cannot change innate human behavior. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Wit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wit/) ## Related quotes > [Nothing is more disgusting than the crowing about liberty by slaves, as most men are, and the flippant mistaking for freedom of some paper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/nothing-is-more-disgusting-than-the-crowing-about-liberty-by-slaves/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It's highly ironic that it was the conservatives on the court who overturned so many statutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-turley/it-s-highly-ironic-that-it-was-the-conservatives-on-the-court-who/) [Jonathan Turley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-turley/) > [“The other members of the legal fraternity especially the court officers/lawyers should be encouraged to aid in interpretation of statutes by handing down suggestions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrietta-newton-martin/the-other-members-of-the-legal-fraternity-especially-the-court/) [Henrietta Newton Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henrietta-newton-martin/) > [Isn't there any statute of limitation in things spiritual? I don't believe any large mind dwells on its sins, any more than on its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-deland/isn-t-there-any-statute-of-limitation-in-things-spiritual-i-don-t/) [Margaret Deland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-deland/) > [We have to make a distinction between members of the Jewish community who sincerely are trying to follow the laws, statutes and commandments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/we-have-to-make-a-distinction-between-members-of-the-jewish-community/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [He needs no library, for he has not done thinking; no church, for he is himself a prophet; no statute book, for he hath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/he-needs-no-library-for-he-has-not-done-thinking-no-church-for-he-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [ The state has a right to do that \[outlaw contraceptives\], I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/the-state-has-a-right-to-do-that-outlaw-contraceptives-i-have-never/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [To deny one's self, to take up the cross, denotes something immeasurably grander than self-imposed penance or rigid conformity to a Divine statute. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-lorimer/to-deny-one-s-self-to-take-up-the-cross-denotes-something/) [George C. Lorimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-lorimer/) > [It would be a narrow conception of jurisprudence to confine the notion of 'laws' to what is found written on the statute books, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/it-would-be-a-narrow-conception-of-jurisprudence-to-confine-the/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [Lawyers are necessary in a community. 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Try to play a piano and you will run into laws as fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/there-must-be-a-law-if-there-is-to-be-liberty-try-to-play-a-piano-and/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [From the time of the North Briton of the unprincipled Wilkes , a notion has been entertained that the moral spine in Scotland is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galt/from-the-time-of-the-north-briton-of-the-unprincipled-wilkes-a-notion/) [John Galt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galt/) > [More importantly, the Court forgets that ours is a government of laws and not of men. That means we are governed by the terms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/more-importantly-the-court-forgets-that-ours-is-a-government-of-laws/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [For what you call the Law is but a club of the rich over the lowest of men, sanctifying the conquest of the earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerrard-winstanley/for-what-you-call-the-law-is-but-a-club-of-the-rich-over-the-lowest/) [Gerrard Winstanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerrard-winstanley/) ## More by Ovid > [Every woman thinks herself attractive; even the plainest is satisfied with the charms she deems that she possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/every-woman-thinks-herself-attractive-even-the-plainest-is-satisfied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Time is generally the best doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-is-generally-the-best-doctor/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-convenient-that-there-be-gods-and-as-it-is-convenient-let-us/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-sea-s-vast-depths-lie-open-to-the-fish-wherever-the-breezes-blow/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Rare is the virtue that's not ruled by Fortune, That stands unshaken even when Fortune flees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rare-is-the-virtue-that-s-not-ruled-by-fortune-that-stands-unshaken/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/thus-all-things-altered-nothing-dies-and-here-and-there-the-unbodied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/how-little-is-the-promise-of-the-child-fulfilled-in-the-man/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Judgement of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/judgement-of-beauty-can-err-what-with-the-wine-and-the-dark/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Leave war to others; 'tis Protesilaus' part of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/leave-war-to-others-tis-protesilaus-part-of-love/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Remove but the temptations of leisure, and the bow of Cupid will lose its effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/remove-but-the-temptations-of-leisure-and-the-bow-of-cupid-will-lose/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) [Explore all 771 Ovid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More Cruel quotes > [“History has a cruel way of disappointing optimists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-thompson/history-has-a-cruel-way-of-disappointing-optimists/) Keith Thompson > [“I think the reason we're cruel sometimes is that we're afraid we're going to like something.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/i-think-the-reason-we-re-cruel-sometimes-is-that-we-re-afraid-we-re/) [Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/) > [“Don't be so cruel to me. Don't promise me anything. I've got everything that i need. I need love in a good way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tegan-quin/don-t-be-so-cruel-to-me-don-t-promise-me-anything-i-ve-got-everything/) [Tegan Quin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tegan-quin/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Even the cruel feel pain. And even the cruel can change. I hope this changes him. He could do so much, if only he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/even-the-cruel-feel-pain-and-even-the-cruel-can-change-i-hope-this/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [You must learn that to endure cruelty is to become cruel yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bleach/you-must-learn-that-to-endure-cruelty-is-to-become-cruel-yourself/) [Bleach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bleach/) > [“my power is as cruel a joke as it can get? That’s”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-d-anderson/my-power-is-as-cruel-a-joke-as-it-can-get-that-s/) Katie D. Anderson > [I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-must-be-cruel-only-to-be-kind-thus-bad-begins-and-worse-remains/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Huamns, uregulated, are cruel and capricious; violet and selfish; miserable and quarrelsome. It is only after their instincts and basic emotions have been controlled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/huamns-uregulated-are-cruel-and-capricious-violet-and-selfish/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [“You would think those who have endured unkindness would be kinder as a result, intent on sparing others the awful suffering they abhorred firsthand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/you-would-think-those-who-have-endured-unkindness-would-be-kinder-as/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [how cruel, your veins are full of ice-water and mine are boiling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/how-cruel-your-veins-are-full-of-ice-water-and-mine-are-boiling/) [Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/) > [There is no kindness more cruel than the kindness which consigns another person to their sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/there-is-no-kindness-more-cruel-than-the-kindness-which-consigns/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Vanity can create a very cruel space for you if you don't know how to manage it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/vanity-can-create-a-very-cruel-space-for-you-if-you-don-t-know-how-to/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [Life is cruel and we do terrible things to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-pym/life-is-cruel-and-we-do-terrible-things-to-each-other/) [Barbara Pym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-pym/) > [What people loathe the most is to be orphaned, desolate, unworthy. But this is what princes and kings call themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/what-people-loathe-the-most-is-to-be-orphaned-desolate-unworthy-but/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) Browse all 1,069 Cruel quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The wit of man has devised cruel statutes, And nature oft permits what is by law forbid.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ovid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statutes-and-nature-oft-permits-what/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cruel" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statutes-and-nature-oft-permits-what/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/298/ovid-276_cruel_the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statute_2445555.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The wit of man has devised cruel statutes, And nature oft permits what is by law forbid.” — Ovid", "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": "Ovid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The wit of man has devised...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statutes-and-nature-oft-permits-what/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-wit-of-man-has-devised-cruel-statutes-and-nature-oft-permits-what/#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 } } ] } ```