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About this quote

What does it mean?
Laws only control public behavior, not private beliefs.
In plain terms
Law changes actions in public but not thoughts.
What can you take from it?
Laws govern conduct, not conscience.

Where it applies

  • governance
  • social norms

Putting it to work

  • focus on voluntary virtue
  • expect compliance gaps

Questions to consider

  • What limits legal power?
  • Can you legislate morality?

Another view

Law can shape culture over time.

More from Orson Scott Card

  1. There are many things that men and women do not say, because to say them would only bring unhappiness

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  2. I know how it feels to have driven all compassion out of my heart and laugh at the pain of someone else

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  3. Don't be too anxious to control other people's ideas

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