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Mankind censure injustice fearing that they may be the victims of it, and not because they shrink from committing it.
Plato
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Interpretation

What this quote means

People criticize injustice mostly out of self-interest rather than a true moral objection to it.

In this quote, Plato highlights a paradox in human nature regarding morality and justice. He suggests that individuals often denounce injustice not out of a sense of duty or morality, but rather out of a fear that they could become victims of that same injustice. This reflects a self-serving attitude towards ethics, where the fear of personal harm drives the condemnation of wrongdoings, rather than a genuine commitment to justice itself.

Themes

InjusticeMoralityFearSelf-InterestEthics

In practice

Example use cases

During a panel discussion on social justice issues.

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