Full Idea
The statement "all gold cubes are smaller than one cubic mile" seems to have all the features demanded of a lawlike statement, yet it can hardly be said to express a law. It is a merely true universal generalisation.
Gist of Idea
"All gold cubes are smaller than one cubic mile" is a true universal generalisation, but not a law
Source
Stathis Psillos (Causation and Explanation [2002], §5.3)
Book Reference
Psillos,Stathis: 'Causation and Explanation' [Acumen 2002], p.141
A Reaction
Nice example. A trickier case is "all cubes of uranium are smaller than one cubic mile", which sounds like part of a law. It suggests a blurred borderline between the two. How much gold is there in the universe? Is that fact a natural necessity?