“Good people do not need law to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

—  Plato

Last update Sept. 29, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Good people do not need law to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." by Plato?
Plato photo
Plato 80
Classical Greek philosopher -427–-347 BC

Related quotes

Ammon Hennacy photo

“Oh judge! Your damn laws! The good people don't need them, and the bad people don't obey them.”

Ammon Hennacy (1893–1970) American Christian radical

[Voices from the Catholic Worker, Troester, Rosalie Riegle, 1993, Temple University Press, 114]

James Mattis photo

“We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.”

James Mattis (1950) 26th and current United States Secretary of Defense; United States Marine Corps general

In Union There Is Strength (2020)

Philip Massinger photo

“The good needs fear no law,
It is his safety and the bad man's awe.”

The Old Law (c. 1615–18; printed 1656), with Thomas Middleton and William Rowley.

Mohammed Alkobaisi photo

“Ethic- is especially important while conducting business, in law suits and trials, when people act rudely, etc.”

Mohammed Alkobaisi (1970) Iraqi Islamic scholar

Understanding Islam, "Morals and Ethics" http://vod.dmi.ae/media/96716/Ep_03_Morals_and_Ethics Dubai Media

Teal Swan photo
Joseph McCabe photo
Robert LeFevre photo

“If you have a government of good laws and bad men, you will have a bad government. For bad men will not be bound by good laws.”

Robert LeFevre (1911–1986) American libertarian businessman

Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, “Unlimited Government” (Dec. 29, 1961).

Robert G. Ingersoll photo

“There are many good precepts, many wise sayings and many good regulations and laws in the Bible, and these are mingled with bad precepts, with foolish sayings, with absurd rules and cruel laws.
But we must remember that the Bible is a collection of many books written centuries apart, and that it in part represents the growth and tells in part the history of a people.”

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

What Would You Substitute for the Bible as a Moral Guide? (1900)
Context: You ask me what I would “substitute for the Bible as a moral guide.” I know that many people regard the Bible as the only moral guide and believe that in that book only can be found the true and perfect standard of morality. There are many good precepts, many wise sayings and many good regulations and laws in the Bible, and these are mingled with bad precepts, with foolish sayings, with absurd rules and cruel laws.
But we must remember that the Bible is a collection of many books written centuries apart, and that it in part represents the growth and tells in part the history of a people. We must also remember that the writers treat of many subjects. Many of these writers have nothing to say about right or wrong, about vice or virtue.

Dana Gould photo

“They tell us of the fixed laws of nature! but who dares maintain that He who fixed these laws cannot use them for the purpose of answering His people's prayers?”

William Mackergo Taylor (1829–1895) American theologian

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 473.

Related topics