A curved wooden strip sits beside a worn eraser and a curved chalk mark on a dark slate surface.

Original artwork, not a still

Last Chance To See · 1990

Douglas Adams

The great thing about being the only species that makes a distinction between right and wrong is that we can make up the rules for ourselves as we go along.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker turns a claim about human moral judgment into a joke about convenience. Being able to distinguish right from wrong supposedly also lets people invent the rules as they proceed. The cheerful opening makes the self-serving conclusion sharper, suggesting a gap between moral authority and consistent standards.

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