an eye for an eye, where do you stand?

[Hrusai]

so we've all heard the quote "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"

but what meaning do you draw from this quote? i've heard many stances on it, personally i take the approach that rather than an advocation of revenge it's more an absolute limit on revenge, e.g. if someone chops off your arm, the most you should do is chop off theirs. don't get me wrong im not saying that i wouldnt kill them, i would.

im just wondering different peoples takes on the meaning of such quotes, as well as how far you would actually take it.

at the end of the day im a realist and if someone took an arm from me, i'd kill them, not because i believe thats what they deserve, but for the sake of self preservation. if i were to cut off their arm, they would inevitably seek further revenge, which would increase my chance of death, therefore to protect me and mine, i would have to kill both them and anyone who would seek revenge for them.

all of this is simply abstract conjecture, but in a post event world, things change and this may become a reality, so its fairly important to get your morals and decide your limits beforehand, im under no illusion of what i am capable of.