If your little savage were left to himself and be allowed to retain all his ignorance, he would in time join the infant's reasoning to the grown man's passion, he would strangle his father and sleep with his mother.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Untamed ignorance combined with adult passion can lead to violent outcomes.
- In plain terms
- A child raised without guidance may become violent.
- What can you take from it?
- Education and restraint prevent natural impulses from turning harmful.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we raise good people?
- What shapes morality?
Another view
This view overstates the inevitability of violence without instruction.
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