Plato put it like this in his "Laws": “Laws are made to instruct the good, and in the hope that there may be no need of them; also to control the bad, whose hardness of heart will not be hindered from crime.”

Your mom's saying has a lot of wisdom because it works in multiple ways.

Either the law was needed because someone did something that needed to not happen again.

Or the law was not needed or even unwanted but was created by an unjust person(s) or politicians.

And that covers all laws. I'm going to use this quote.

Same with contracts: you only need them when things go bad.

Wait - does that mean it’s the assholes who make the laws or are they the ones we create laws for? Or does it work both ways?!

Your moms super profound.

Which assholes? The ones that passed them, or the ones that did something stupid to prompt them?

(I like this statement!)