We have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the struggle between justice and self-preservation when faced with difficult choices.
Thomas Jefferson's quote illustrates the precarious situation of being trapped between two compelling forces: the pursuit of justice and the instinct for self-preservation. It reflects on the challenges of making decisions where moral integrity and personal safety are at odds, emphasizing the complexities of ethical dilemmas that individuals often face, particularly in politics and governance. The metaphor of holding a wolf by the ears implies that while one may have power, it is also risky and may lead to adverse consequences.
In practice
During a political debate, one might quote this to illustrate the challenges of balancing ethics with public safety.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
Nationalism is like cheap alcohol. First it makes you drunk, then it makes you blind, then it kills you.
A private sin is not so prejudicial in this world, as a public indecency.
If what I say resonates with you, it's merely because we're branches of the same tree.
I imagine the earth when I am no more: Women's dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley. Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born, Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.
Money is far more persuasive than logical arguments.
It is inconceivable to me that a million or three million or half a million human beings will think and feel precisely the same way on any single subject.
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