Your freedom ends where my nose begins

I have come across this story in school. An interesting one and even more relevant today with everyone is free to do what they want, but very few understand the limits of such freedom. The story goes like this

London historically is a city with unpredictable rains. So people used to carry umbrella all the time while going out. There is one gentleman who is walking on the streets with his umbrella in hand. Lost in his thoughts, he starts casually waving his hand to and fro while taking small steps towards his destination. As he sped ahead, the waving of hand gains equal momentum and unfortunately the umbrella hits the nose of the other gentleman coming from behind. They both start an altercation.

First Gentleman: “What is your problem? It is my hand and my umbrella and I am free to wave it as per my wish”

Second Gentleman: “I have no contention about your freedom. However, you must note that your freedom ends where my nose begins”

Wonderful statement isn’t it?  We are free to do what we want so long as it does not hurt anyone directly or indirectly. Most of our actions are not executed in isolation. As social animals we are, our actions have an impact to others. It could be affecting someone in the family, friends, neighborhood, nation or the society in general. We must be cognizant of this and take utmost care that our actions do not lead to detrimental effect on others.