A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed (killed or discounted in some way) for the common good. The term is derived from the traditions of Abrahamic religion where a lamb is a highly valued possession, but is offered to God as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of Sin.
Read more about Sacrificial Lamb: In Politics, In The Arts, In Husbandry
Famous quotes containing the words sacrificial and/or lamb:
“Men, forever tempted to lift the veil of the future—with the aid of computers or horoscopes or the intestines of sacrificial animals—have a worse record to show in these “sciences” than in almost any scientific endeavor.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)
“We found it at last, an’ a little shed
Where they shut up the lamb at night.
We looked in an’ seen them huddled thar,
So warm an’ sleepy an’ white;
An’ THAR sot Little Breeches an’ chirped,
As peart as ever you see,
“I wants a chaw of terbacky,
An’ that’s what’s the matter of me.””
—John Milton Hay (1838–1905)