How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from A Man for All Seasons.
Quote #1
MARGARET: Father, that man's bad!
MORE: There's no law against that.
ROPER: There is. God's law!MORE: Then God can arrest him.
ALICE: While you talk, he's gone!
MORE: Go he should, if he were the Devil, until he broke the law.
ROPER: Now you'd give the Devil benefit of law!
More explains that Rich, in a sense, has a right to be bad unless he finally breaks the law. But, in the end, Richard really will violate the law by committing perjury and sealing More's death sentence. That's the nature of cynical power-grabbers like Rich: They can manipulate events behind the scenes without visibly doing anything wrong and take advantage of the principled man's good nature.
Quote #2
MORE: Yes, what would you do? Cut a road through the law to get after the Devil?
ROPER: Yes. I'd cut down every law in England to do that.
MORE: And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned on you... where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted 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... do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law for my own safety's sake.
More explains that he recognizes the necessity for the kind of law and order that the king represents. There needs to be a secular authority—even if it provides a refuge for scoundrels like Rich and Cromwell. Of course, those laws end up betraying More and leading to his execution, instead of keeping him safe. So maybe, in retrospect, he should've run away to Italy or something.
Quote #3
ALICE: No. If I'm to lose my rank and fall to housekeeping, I want to know the reason. So make a statement now.
MORE: No. Alice, it's a point of law. Accept it from me... that in silence is my safety, under the law. And my silence must be absolute. It must extend to you.
Technically, according to the law, More's silence isn't really a crime. As More later tells the court, silence implies assent rather than objection (even though he really does object to the king's oath). It's only when Rich lies and claims that More wasn't silent that his fate is sealed.