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How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done!
William Shakespeare
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The awareness of opportunities to commit wrongdoing often leads to those wrongdoings being carried out.

This quote by William Shakespeare suggests that simply recognizing the means or opportunities to engage in immoral or unethical actions can propel individuals to commit those actions. It highlights a psychological phenomenon where the temptation of wrongdoing becomes stronger when the means to achieve it are visible, illustrating the inner struggle between moral choices and desires.

Themes

TemptationWrongdoingChoicesMoralityOpportunity

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture on ethics, this quote can illustrate the moral dilemmas faced when presented with unethical opportunities.

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As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have; but, in their stead, / Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, / Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not" (5.3.25-28).
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Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
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Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
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Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
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Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
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