I can discover no political evil in suffering bullies, sharpers, and rakes, to rid the world of each other by a method of their own; where the law hath not been able to find an expedient.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Some bad people resolve conflicts among themselves without law intervention.
- In plain terms
- Lawful society may not stop bullies, but they often eliminate each other naturally.
- What can you take from it?
- Nature sometimes corrects social bad actors.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is natural elimination of bad actors sufficient?
- How should law handle those it cannot reach?
Another view
It risks romanticizing vigilante justice as a solution.
More from Jonathan Swift
Pride, ill nature, and want of sense, are the three great sources of ill manners.
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Permalink to quote #37 Pedantry is properly the over-rating of any kind of knowledge we pretend to.
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