Think about how ugly and awful it is to hurt others. This goes against human nature. Our kindness can even tame wild animals. Look how bulls accept the yoke. Elephants let children and women dance safely on their backs. Snakes slide harmlessly across our chests and around our cups. Bears and lions in their dens let us pet them with gentle mouths. Wild beasts show affection to their masters. We should be ashamed that we act worse than wild animals.
Think, above all, how base and hateful is the power of doing mischief, and how unnatural in man, by whose kindness even fierce animals are rendered tame. See how bulls yield their necks to the yoke, how elephants allow boys and women to dance on their backs unhurt, how snakes glide harmlessly over our bosoms and among our drinking-cups, how within their dens bears and lions submit to be handled with complacent mouths, and wild beasts fawn upon their master: let us blush to have exchanged habits with wild beasts.