"We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other."
— History of slavery

January 1, 1970

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Slavery
Original Language: English

Sources

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Holmes (April 22, 1820), on the Missouri question, in J. C. Miller, The Wolf by the Ears (1977); cf. Terence, Phormio, act 3, 506: auribus teneo lupum