Answer to Question #262135 in History for Kelsey Jand

Question

Analyze this quote: “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Answer 1

This famous quote refers to an Old Testament reference regarding the legal penalties for violence.

This is a fine example of one quotation standing on the shoulders of another — a proverb, in this case.

‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’

Is a traditional expression of revenge thinking that dates back to biblical times.

And just as some quotations take a literal statement and turn it into a metaphor, here we have a metaphorical statement, which is turned into something literal.

It is clever rhetoric, and the identity of the author gives it added point.

Gandhi rejected violence as a means to change, and only engaged in peaceful ways of protest.

Dr Martin Luther King Jr in fact also used a version of this quote during the struggle for civil rights and equality in the USA.

Both men were proponents of the power of the people and their peaceful methods carried great weight and helped bring about social change.

This quote is all about common sense, but unfortunately most of the leaders of the world, Vladimir Putin, David Cameron and Francois Hollande seem to lack any and God help us if the Americans are stupid enough as a whole nation to let Donald Trump get in.