Moralists of all ages and of all faiths, attending only to the relations
of men towards one another in an ideal society, have agreed upon
the "golden rule," "Do as you would be done by." In other words, let
sympathy be your guide; put yourself in the place of the man towards
whom your action is directed; and do to him what you would like to have
done to yourself under the circumstances. However much one may admire
the generosity of such a rule of conduct; however confident one may be
that average men may be thoroughly depended upon not to carry it out to
its full logical consequences; it is nevertheless desirable to recognise
the fact that these consequences are incompatible with the existence
of a civil state, under any circumstances of this world which have
obtained, or, so far as one can see, are likely to come to pass.
For I imagine there can be no doubt that the great desire of every
wrongdoer is to escape from the painful consequences of his actions. If
I put myself in the place of the man who has robbed me, I find that I
am possessed by an exceeding desire not to be fined or imprisoned; if
in that of the man who has smitten me on one cheek, I contemplate with
satisfaction the absence of any worse result than the turning of the
other cheek for like treatment. Strictly observed, the "golden rule"
involves the negation of law by the refusal to put it in motion against
law-breakers; and, as regards the external relations of a polity, it is
the refusal to continue the struggle for existence. It can be obeyed,
even partially, only under the protection of a society which repudiates
it without such shelter the followers of the "golden rule" may indulge
in hopes of heaven, but they must reckon with the certainty that other
people will be masters of the earth.
What would become of the garden if the gardener treated all the weeds
and slugs and birds and trespassers as he would like to be treated if he
were in their place?