"Any rule fails when all self-exempt Just two years into Prohibition, novelist Sinclair Lewis captured exactly why the experiment was doomed in his 1922 novel Babbitt. A character passing a flask on a train says the law "is a mighty beneficial thing for the poor zob that hasn't got any willpower, but for fellows like us it's an infringement of personal liberty." The guide observes that Lewis "nailed why prohibition is destined to fail because everyone is making an exception for themselves." Before enforcing or accepting any rule — in an organization, a relationship, or a personal habit system — ask honestly whether you and the people involved intend to follow it or quietly exempt yourselves. Source: Tour Guide (unnamed), Prohibition History Lecture, Temperance and Prohibition Tour Presentation"