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.
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.
I have never seen a greater monster or miracle in the world than myself.
National events determine our ideals, as much as our ideals determine national events.
The guilty are allowed, by human laws, bloody as they are, to speak in their own defence before they are condemned.
When silence is a choice, it is an unnerving presence. When silence is imposed, it is censorship.
Max lifted his head, with great sorrow and great astonishment. 'There were stars,' He said. 'They burned my eyes.β ...from a Himmel street window, he wrote, the stars set fire to my eyes.
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