“They have but few laws, and such is their constitution that they need not many.”

—  Thomas More , book Utopia

Source: Utopia (1516), Ch. 7 : Of Their Slaves, and of Their Marriages
Context: They have but few laws, and such is their constitution that they need not many. They very much condemn other nations whose laws, together with the commentaries on them, swell up to so many volumes; for they think it an unreasonable thing to oblige men to obey a body of laws that are both of such a bulk, and so dark as not to be read and understood by every one of the subjects.

Original

leges habent perquam paucas. sufficiunt enim sic institutis paucissimae. quin hoc in primis apud alios improbant populos, quod legum interpretumque uolumina, non infinita sufficiunt. ipsi uero censent iniquissimum; ullos homines his obligari legibus; quae aut numerosiores sint, quam ut perlegi queant; aut obscuriores quam ut a quouis possint intelligi.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Thomas More 26
English Renaissance humanist 1478–1535

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