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Poetry · Chapter
CLIV explained
A brief moral reflection on the nature of conscience and cheating, suggesting that even those who allow others to be cheated will not tolerate being cheated themselves.
What happens
A brief moral reflection on the nature of conscience and cheating, suggesting that even those who allow others to be cheated will not tolerate being cheated themselves.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Self-Deception
The chapter explores the ethics of cheating and the selective application of conscience.
Key passages
“Because you will not take by theft what you can have by cheating, think not yours is the only conscience in the world. Even he who permits you to cheat his neighbor will shrink from permitting you to cheat himself.”
Do not assume your moral standards are unique just because you prefer cheating over stealing. A person who allows you to deceive others will still object to being deceived themselves.
The narrator critiques self-righteousness and the hypocrisy of selective ethics.