If you strike a child, take care that you strike it in anger, even at the risk of maiming it for life. A blow in cold blood neither can nor should be forgiven.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Violence done in anger is worse than violence done with cold calculation, and the latter is unforgivable.
- In plain terms
- Hitting a child in anger is bad, but doing it calmly is worse and cannot be forgiven.
- What can you take from it?
- Deliberate harm is unforgivable; rage is a loss of control.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is anger a worse excuse than planning?
- How do we judge harm?
Another view
This justifies angry violence if it is not done in cold blood.
More from George Bernard Shaw
Marriage is popular because it combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity.
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Permalink to quote #117 He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
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