Daily Inspiration Quote by Thomas Fuller

A fox on a goose's jury is the kind of crisp, rural image that makes moral philosophy feel like common sense. Fuller, a 17th-century English clergyman writing in an age of civil war, shifting regimes, and anxious sermons about order, lands a warning that is both legal and theological: justice collapses the moment the judge has an appetite.

The intent is practical. Don’t appoint decision-makers who stand to profit from the verdict. Yet Fuller’s subtext is sharper than a generic call for “fairness.” The fox isn’t merely biased; it is structurally incapable of impartiality because its identity is predation. That move matters. He’s not diagnosing a bad mood or a corrupt individual, but a built-in conflict of interest. The metaphor carries a quiet cynicism about human nature: some roles and incentives will reliably overpower virtue, no matter how pious the courtroom looks.

Context adds bite. Fuller lived through the English Civil Wars and the Interregnum, when authority itself was on trial and “justice” could be whatever the winning faction declared it to be. In that climate, the line reads as a compact argument for procedural legitimacy: courts, councils, and committees must be designed to restrain self-interest, not sanctify it. Coming from a clergyman, it also doubles as a sermon in miniature: sin isn’t only personal; it’s institutional. Put the predator in charge, and you won’t get an unfair trial by accident. You’ll get a verdict by design.