> 2023-01-11

My favorite scene from A Man for All Seasons [1] is immediately following Richard Rich’s [2] dismissal by Saint Thomas More [3] where the latter’s family urges him to take action against Rich as a potential enemy. A rapid and important dialogue follows, densely packed with lessons with the greatest at the very end.

“Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned ‘round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if you cut them down, and you’re just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I’d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake!” - Saint Thomas More

Never destroy laws holding back Man’s worst impulses in pursuit of what you hold as a righteous goal - others may have similar ideas.

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