Gandhi - An Eye For an Eye
July 27th 2006 23:55
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” - M.K. Gandhi
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” relates to “lex talionis”- the law of retaliation. This quote comes from Exodus, part of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is interesting that Gandhi said this quote, knowing he was the leader of India of which the religion is Hindu.
Although the eye-for-an-eye quote is usually seen as a prompt for the cruel avenue of revenge, it is similar to the much better-natured “One good turn deserves another” idiom. But as we see on the news every day, an eye-for-an-eye is used all too often. Gandhi was right, except the results are worse than blindness – it’s more like “a child for a child”, “a bomb for a bomb”, or a “fatality for a fatality”.
Image part of the Public Domain
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” relates to “lex talionis”- the law of retaliation. This quote comes from Exodus, part of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is interesting that Gandhi said this quote, knowing he was the leader of India of which the religion is Hindu.
Although the eye-for-an-eye quote is usually seen as a prompt for the cruel avenue of revenge, it is similar to the much better-natured “One good turn deserves another” idiom. But as we see on the news every day, an eye-for-an-eye is used all too often. Gandhi was right, except the results are worse than blindness – it’s more like “a child for a child”, “a bomb for a bomb”, or a “fatality for a fatality”.
Image part of the Public Domain
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