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.
And to say that society ought to be governed by the opinion of the wisest and best, though true, is useless. Whose opinion is to decide who are the wisest and best?
Even a soul submerged in sleep _x000D_ is hard at work and helps _x000D_ make something of the world.
Our actions are like ships which we may watch set out to sea, and not know when or with what cargo they will return to port.
Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seem too insignificant for our concern? Yet in my heart I never will deny her, Who suffered death because she chose to turn.
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given In the dull catalogue of common things. Philosophy will clip an angel's wings.
To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.