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One of the many famous quotes from Professor Bernardo de la Paz in Robert Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress is the following, originating from his discussion with Wyoming on what they believe in.

"I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

How exactly does the Professor accept a rule and yet break them? Please let me know if more information is needed.

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  • It's pretty clear - "I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them." - He's just reserving the right to accept the rule but break it if it impacts him negatively.
    – Paulie_D
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 12:19
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    Think about speed laws, we all break them but we accept that if we break them we accept the responsibility for the outcome.
    – Paulie_D
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 12:20
  • @Paulie_D - hey, speak for yourself! :-)
    – Basya
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 13:26

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Simply that he isn't interested in trying to stop anyone from making rules that he disagrees with. If it makes people happy to make rules — good for them. If it makes people happy to be governed by those rules — good for them. He won't interfere. But to him rules enacted by democracies or committees or despots have no moral weight; he will act to do what is right and avoid what is wrong, according to his own understanding, irrespective of the law.

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  • Spoiler alert, but he does interfere :-)
    – Simon Gibbs
    Commented Oct 10, 2022 at 13:55
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This question may be better suited for politics or philosophy SE /s

Heinlein was a libertarian, and his works both fiction and non-fiction covered that point of view. From that last link Heinlein himself is quoted as:

I would say my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand’s; that I would like to see government reduced to no more than internal police and courts, external armed forces—with the other matters handled otherwise. I’m sick of the way the government sticks its nose into everything, now.… It seems to me that every time we manage to establish one freedom, they take another away. Maybe two.

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress has been called

His libertarian masterpiece

So basically Prof de la Paz is espousing his (or Heinlein's) libertarian viewpoint that (among other things) a person is soley responsible for their own actions, and nobody has the right to control anyone else (1)

Thus a libertarian will do what they please, regardless if it aligns with any laws/rules or not.

(1) I am not a political scientist and I only have a basic idea of libertarian principles, so please excuse any excessive simplification.

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