No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Laws alone cannot force people to be hardworking, careful, or sober; internal motivation is required.
- In plain terms
- Laws cannot change a person's character or work ethic.
- What can you take from it?
- True change comes from within, not laws.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can laws change behavior?
- What drives real change?
Another view
Some laws are necessary to protect society from harmful behaviors.
More from Samuel Smiles
Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
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