Law Similes. Frank J. Wilstach, comp. 1916. A Dictionary of Similes

Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Law


Laws are like cobwebs; the small flies are caught, the great break through. —Anacharsis	1
So he that goes to law, as the proverb is, holds a wolf by the ears, or, as a sheep in a storm runs for shelter to a briar, if he prosecute his cause he is consumed, if he surcease his suit he loseth all; what difference? —Robert Burton	2
The knowledge of the law is like a deep well, out of which each man draweth according to the strength of his understanding. —Sir Edward Coke	3
Strict laws are like a steel bodice, good for growing limbs; but when the joints are knit, they are not helps but burdens. —Sir F. Fane	4
Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions;… that laws were like cobwebs,—for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off. —Diogenes Laertius	5
Law is like a sieve; it is very easy to see through it, but a man must be considerably reduced before he can get through it. —Samuel George Morton	6
The law is like the axle of a carriage—you can turn it wherever you please. —Russian Proverb	7
Laws are not made like lime-twigs or nets, to catch everything that toucheth them, but rather like sea-marks, to avoid the shipwreck of ignorant passengers. —Sir Philip Sidney	8