Law and Ethics
In a legal sense, a defendant having been found guilty of a capital crime may ask for clemency from being executed.
To be "mercy", the behavior generally can not be compelled by outside forces. A famous literary example that alludes to the impact of the ethical components of the mercy on the legal aspects is from The Merchant of Venice when Portia asks Shylock to show mercy. He asks, "On what compulsion, must I?" She responds:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Read more about this topic: Mercy
Famous quotes containing the words law and/or ethics:
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