Law and Life

This six-word sentence from Shakespeare suggests a deeply searching subject: “His own opinion was his law.”¹ This brings us to the question of freedom and restraint, of law and who is subject to it, and the subject of self-control, which recalls a sentence from Goethe, who said: “Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is disastrous.”² All nature observes law. If it did not, life would not be possible. If it did not we could not reasonably know that the seasons would move in succession, that there would be sufficient light or heat, that we could plant with any reasonable assurance of having a harvest. Nor would there be reasonable assurance to prepare for the future. Life is possible, and all that pertains to it, because God and nature administer and move within law, from cause to consequence. Not only life, but living with others is possible because of law. Without law, no man could be assured of the fruits of his labors. Without law, brute force would prevail, the weak would be destroyed by the strong, and the strong would destroy themselves in their struggles against each other. Without law there would be no peace or privacy, no protection of person or of property, public or private; no foreseeable future, no assurance of anything we could count on. Every man has a right to safety for his loved ones when he leaves them. Every person has a right to be protected in his person and his property and to realize the results of his preparation for the future, and every man has an obligation to protect others also. No one who thinks his own opinions or appetites or inclinations supersede law is safe in society. To be safe⎯indeed to survive⎯there must be respect for, compliance with, and enforcement of the laws of God and nature and the laws of the land. The closer we come to lawlessness the farther we get from reason and respect, from peace and properity, from safety and assurance. The closer we come to lawlessness or to encouraging lawlessness, the closer we come to chaos. He who feels his own opinion is his law is not a safe citizen.

“Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law.”³