The language of the law must not be foreign to the ears of those who are to obey it.

Hand’s remark argues that law, to be legitimate and effective, must be intelligible to the people it governs. If legal language becomes a specialized dialect understood only by lawyers and judges, obedience turns into mere submission to an opaque authority rather than informed civic compliance. The quote also implies a democratic ideal: citizens should be able to grasp the rules that bind them, so they can evaluate, contest, and internalize them. In this sense, Hand anticipates modern concerns about “plain language” in statutes, jury instructions, and administrative rules, and about the gap between legal institutions and public understanding.