Denis Diderot, reported in Ashton Applewhite, Tripp Evans, and Andrew Frothingham, And I Quote: The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker (St. Martin's Press, 2003), p. 84. .
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Anyone who takes it on himself, on his own authority, to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones.
— Denis Diderot on Crime
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Anyone who takes it on himself, on his own authority, to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones." in the context of "Denis Diderot, reported in Ashton Applewhite, Tripp Evans, and Andrew Frothingham, And I Quote: The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker (St. Martin's Press, 2003), p. 84. ." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Crime" (Attributed)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher and chief editor of the historic project to produce L'Encyclopédie.
About Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (5 October 1713 – 31 July 1784) was a French philosopher and chief editor of the historic project to produce L'Encyclopédie.
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