Ought one to break the law to punish a bad man? To seek vengeance for the deaths of innocents? To frustrate the denouement of some evil plot? I don't know. Wise men and sophists have argued each answer eloquently. I do know that Robert Bolt's interpretation of Thomas More persuades me contrariwise.
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons (New York: Vintage International 1990), p. 66:
More: And go he should, if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law!
Roper: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that?
More: (Roused and excited) Oh? (Advances on Roper) And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? (He leaves him) This country's 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 -- d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? (Quietly) Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of the law, for my own safety's sake.
Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons (New York: Vintage International 1990), p. 66:
More: And go he should, if he was the Devil himself, until he broke the law!
Roper: So now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More: Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
Roper: I'd cut down every law in England to do that?
More: (Roused and excited) Oh? (Advances on Roper) And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you -- where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? (He leaves him) This country's 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 -- d'you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? (Quietly) Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of the law, for my own safety's sake.
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