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d97738f
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Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or silly action for no other reason than because he knows he should ? Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgement, to violate that which is , merely because we understand it to be such?
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wrongdoing
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Edgar Allan Poe |
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7e563ba
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If perchance a friend should betray you; if he forms a subtle plot to get hold of what is yours; if people should try to spread evil reports about you, would you tamely submit to all this without flying into a rage?
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rage
people
life
friend
friends-betrayal
harm
wrongdoing
society
deceit
evil
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Molière |
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6b793cb
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The primitive idea of justice is partly legalized revenge and partly expiation by sacrifice. It works out from both sides in the notion that two blacks make a white, and that when a wrong has been done, it should be paid for by an equivalent suffering. It seems to the Philistine majority a matter of course that this compensating suffering should be inflicted on the wrongdoer for the sake of its deterrent effect on other would-be wrongdoers; but a moment's reflection will shew that this utilitarian application corrupts the whole transaction. For example, the shedding of blood cannot be balanced by the shedding of guilty blood. Sacrificing a criminal to propitiate God for the murder of one of his righteous servants is like sacrificing a mangy sheep or an ox with the rinderpest: it calls down divine wrath instead of appeasing it. In doing it we offer God as a sacrifice the gratification of our own revenge and the protection of our own lives without cost to ourselves; and cost to ourselves is the essence of sacrifice and expiation.
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death-penalty
wrongdoing
punishment
justice
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George Bernard Shaw |
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2c702f6
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He who profits by villainy, has perpetrated it.
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villainy
profit
wrongdoing
vice
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Iain Pears |
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cc38b90
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"We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly, and bitterly wept as we bore him along. For we all loved our comrade so brave, young and handsome, we all loved our comrade although he'd done wrong." The Cowboy's Lament"
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wrongdoing
forgiveness
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Leif Enger |