Moral values, and a culture and a religion, maintaining these values are far better than laws and regulations.

The saying contrasts external social control (laws, regulations) with internalized ethical formation (moral values sustained by culture and religion). It implies that a society functions best when people act rightly from conviction and character rather than from fear of punishment or mere compliance. In this view, law is a necessary backstop, but it is a blunt instrument: it can restrain behavior, yet it cannot reliably cultivate virtues such as honesty, compassion, self-restraint, and duty. The quote also reflects a common spiritual-ethical argument that enduring social harmony depends on shared moral education and lived traditions that shape conscience.