A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?

– William Shakespeare

King Lear, Act 4, Scene 6. Lear says to Gloucester that a man without eyes may see how the world works, he can look with his ears. By experiencing adversity in his own life, Lear has learned to have compassion for the poor and disadvantaged who suffer unjustly. He cites the case of the judge condemning the ordinary thief. If you were to have them switch places, could you tell which one is which, he asks in his tirade against man’s justice.

William Shakespeare Quotes