"A quality is something capable of being completely embodied. A law never can be embodied in its character as a law except by determining a habit. A quality is how something may or might have been. A law is how an endless future must continue to be"

In this quote, philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce is talking about the difference in between a quality and a law. He defines a quality as something that can be totally represented or manifested, while a law can not be fully embodied unless it is translated into a practice. Peirce likewise recommends that a quality is something that might have existed or existed, while a law is something that will continue to exist indefinitely in the future. Basically, Peirce is highlighting the difference in between something that is tangible and concrete (a quality) and something that is abstract and continuous (a law).