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Two wrongs don't make a right

Meaning: Responding to wrongdoing with more wrongdoing is never justified.

Origin: English proverb first recorded in 1734, later echoed by Gandhi.

Translations

  • French: Deux torts ne font pas un droit (literally: Two wrongs don't make a right)
  • Spanish: Dos males no hacen un bien (literally: Two evils don't make a good)
  • Japanese: 目には目をでは世界は盲目になる (Me ni wa me wo de wa sekai wa mōmoku ni naru) (literally: An eye for an eye makes the world blind)

More proverbs about Morality

  • Honesty is the best policy — Being truthful is always the right approach.
  • You reap what you sow — Your actions determine your outcomes.
  • An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind — Revenge only creates more suffering.
  • Do unto others as you would have them do unto you — Treat people the way you want to be treated.
  • Don't bite the hand that feeds you — Don't harm those who help you.
  • People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones — Don't criticize others if you have the same faults.

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