---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Laws are felt only when the individual…"
description: "\"Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict with them.\" — Suzanne La Follette"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png"
---

#  Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict…

![“Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict with them.” quote by Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png)

> “Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict with them.”

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Laws become noticeable only when they conflict with personal actions or beliefs.

**In simple terms:** Laws matter when they affect you.

Key Takeaway

Know your rights, act responsibly.

Themes

law conflict individual rights

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

analytical educational

When to use this quote

- traffic stops
- employment contracts
- public protests
- property disputes

Key Concepts

civil liberties social contract

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you felt a law was unjust?
- How do you resolve personal vs. legal conflict?

A Different Perspective

Legal awareness varies by context.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Conflict](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Laws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laws/) [Lawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lawyer/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/)

## Related quotes

> [It is an old adage, "All is fair in love as in war," but I thought not of general laws, and only felt a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-swisshelm/it-is-an-old-adage-all-is-fair-in-love-as-in-war-but-i-thought-not-of/)

[Jane Swisshelm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-swisshelm/)

> [“His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence, emotions which are more easily felt towards an individual than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/his-function-is-to-act-as-a-focusing-point-for-love-fear-and/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donatella-versace/creativity-comes-from-a-conflict-of-ideas/)

[Donatella Versace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donatella-versace/)

> [I think all art comes out of conflict. When I write I am always looking for the dramatic kernel of an event, the junctures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/i-think-all-art-comes-out-of-conflict-when-i-write-i-am-always/)

[Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/)

> [Comedy comes from conflict, from hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mitchell/comedy-comes-from-conflict-from-hatred/)

Warren Mitchell

> [I understand that it is a maxim of law, that a poor plea may be a good plea to a bad declaration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-understand-that-it-is-a-maxim-of-law-that-a-poor-plea-may-be-a-good/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [A unjust law, is no law at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/a-unjust-law-is-no-law-at-all/)

[Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/)

> [The wise know that foolish legislation is a rope of sand, which perishes in the twisting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-wise-know-that-foolish-legislation-is-a-rope-of-sand-which/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Future lawyers should be more aware that law is not a system of abstract logic, but the web of arrangements, rooted in history but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/future-lawyers-should-be-more-aware-that-law-is-not-a-system-of/)

[Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/)

> [Laws are not masters but servants, and he rules them who obey them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/laws-are-not-masters-but-servants-and-he-rules-them-who-obey-them/)

[Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/)

> [Well of course there's been a great deal of progress over the last 40 years. We don't have laws that segregate black people within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/well-of-course-there-s-been-a-great-deal-of-progress-over-the-last-40/)

[Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/)

> [The function of the law is not to provide justice or to preserve freedom. The function of the law is to keep those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-spence/the-function-of-the-law-is-not-to-provide-justice-or-to-preserve/)

[Gerry Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-spence/)

> [We are always saying: Let the Law take its Course but what we really mean is: Let the Law take OUR Course.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/we-are-always-saying-let-the-law-take-its-course-but-what-we-really/)

[Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/)

> [“The laws of every country must be analogous to some common principle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-laws-of-every-country-must-be-analogous-to-some-common-principle/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [The law is like apparel, which alters with the time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dodderidge/the-law-is-like-apparel-which-alters-with-the-time/)

John Dodderidge

## More by Suzanne La Follette

> [There is nothing more innately human than the tendency to transmute what has become customary into what has been divinely ordained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/there-is-nothing-more-innately-human-than-the-tendency-to-transmute/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [Where is the society which does not struggle along under a dead-weight of tradition and law inherited from its grandfather?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/where-is-the-society-which-does-not-struggle-along-under-a-dead/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [Until economic freedom is attained for everybody, there can be no real freedom for anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/until-economic-freedom-is-attained-for-everybody-there-can-be-no-real/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [If responsibility for the upbringing of children is to continue to be vested in the family, then the rights of children will be secured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/if-responsibility-for-the-upbringing-of-children-is-to-continue-to-be/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [When one hears the argument that marriage should be indissoluble for the sake of children, one cannot help wondering whether the protagonist is really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/when-one-hears-the-argument-that-marriage-should-be-indissoluble-for/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [. . . nothing could be more grotesquely unjust than a code of morals, reinforced by laws, which relieves men from responsibility for irregular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/nothing-could-be-more-grotesquely-unjust-than-a-code-of-morals/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [No human being, man, woman, or child, may safely be entrusted to the power of another; for no human being may safely be trusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/no-human-being-man-woman-or-child-may-safely-be-entrusted-to-the/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [The revolutionists did not succeed in establishing human freedom; they poured the new wine of belief in equal rights for all men into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/the-revolutionists-did-not-succeed-in-establishing-human-freedom-they/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [The worst effect of tutelage is that it negates self-discipline, and therefore people suddenly released from it are almost bound to make fools of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/the-worst-effect-of-tutelage-is-that-it-negates-self-discipline-and/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [It is necessary to grow accustomed to freedom before one may walk in it sure-footedly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/it-is-necessary-to-grow-accustomed-to-freedom-before-one-may-walk-in/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [Anyone who has not known that inestimable privilege can possibly realize what good fortune it is to grow up in a home where there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/anyone-who-has-not-known-that-inestimable-privilege-can-possibly/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [under a monopolistic economic system the opportunity to earn a living by one's labour comes to be regarded as a privilege instead of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/under-a-monopolistic-economic-system-the-opportunity-to-earn-a-living/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [Motherhood, to be sure, receives a great deal of sentimental adulation, but only if it is committed in accordance with rules which have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/motherhood-to-be-sure-receives-a-great-deal-of-sentimental-adulation/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [What its children become, that will the community become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/what-its-children-become-that-will-the-community-become/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

> [the desire to enforce our own moral and spiritual criteria upon posterity is quite as strong as the desire to enforce them upon contemporaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/the-desire-to-enforce-our-own-moral-and-spiritual-criteria-upon/)

[Suzanne La Follette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

[Explore all 22 Suzanne La Follette quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/)

## More Conflict quotes

> [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/)

[Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/)

> [There is a conflict in the Middle East between two entities, and they're both right, each in their own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reuven-rivlin/there-is-a-conflict-in-the-middle-east-between-two-entities-and-they/)

[Reuven Rivlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reuven-rivlin/)

> [Conflict isn't negative, it just is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-crum/conflict-isn-t-negative-it-just-is/)

[Thomas Crum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-crum/)

> [I have lived in countries that were coming out of conflict: Ireland, South Africa, the Czech republic. People there are overflowing with energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-have-lived-in-countries-that-were-coming-out-of-conflict-ireland/)

[Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/)

> [Africa, being the major target of colonial plunder, therefore becomes a major source of conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-horne/africa-being-the-major-target-of-colonial-plunder-therefore-becomes-a/)

[Gerald Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-horne/)

> [All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there is no action. Without action, there is no character. Without character, there is no story. And without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd-field/all-drama-is-conflict-without-conflict-there-is-no-action-without/)

[Syd Field](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd-field/)

> [The irrepressible conflict propounded by abolitionism has produced now its legitimate fruits - disunion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-irrepressible-conflict-propounded-by-abolitionism-has-produced/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“These are all good things, I said. But no one knows where your country is or who you are. You don't have a familiar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/these-are-all-good-things-i-said-but-no-one-knows-where-your-country/)

[Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/)

> [I understand the formula that producers hire directors and directors are hired to direct and actors are hired to act. I don't have any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-trejo/i-understand-the-formula-that-producers-hire-directors-and-directors/)

[Danny Trejo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-trejo/)

> [“While there is battle and hatred men have eyes for nothing save the fact that the enemy is the cause of all the troubles;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/while-there-is-battle-and-hatred-men-have-eyes-for-nothing-save-the/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/un-peacekeeping-operations-are-now-increasingly-complex-and-multi/)

[Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/)

> [All men have an instinct for conflict: at least, all healthy men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilaire-belloc/all-men-have-an-instinct-for-conflict-at-least-all-healthy-men/)

[Hilaire Belloc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilaire-belloc/)

> [I didnt like the Survivor shows because of the mean-spirited aspect, and women certainly were part of whatever conflict they would create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lawrence/i-didnt-like-the-survivor-shows-because-of-the-mean-spirited-aspect/)

[Sharon Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lawrence/)

> [“How we traverse the space between us when conflict arises has a profound effect on the health and longevity of our relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/how-we-traverse-the-space-between-us-when-conflict-arises-has-a/)

[Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/)

[Browse all 3,969 Conflict quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conflict/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict with them.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Suzanne La Follette"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-comes-into-conflict-with-them/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Conflict"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-comes-into-conflict-with-them/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a32/suzanne-la-follette-26333_conflict_laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-c_719872.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Laws are felt only when the individual comes into conflict with them.” — Suzanne La Follette",
                "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": "Suzanne La Follette",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-la-follette/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Laws are felt only when the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-comes-into-conflict-with-them/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-la-follette/laws-are-felt-only-when-the-individual-comes-into-conflict-with-them/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
