Another indication that the right is the source of movement is the way
we put our feet forward; all men lead off with the left, and after
standing still prefer to put the left foot forward, unless something
happens to prevent it. The reason is that their movement comes from
the leg they step off, not from the one put forward. Again, men
guard themselves with their right. And this is the reason why the
right is the same in all, for that from which motion begins is the
same for all, and has its natural position in the same place, and
for this reason the spiral-shaped Testaceans have their shells on
the right, for they do not move in the direction of the spire, but all
go forward in the direction opposite to the spire. Examples are the
murex and the ceryx. As all animals then start movement from the
right, and the right moves in the same direction as the whole, it is
necessary for all to be alike right-handed. And man has the left limbs
detached more than any other animal because he is natural in a
higher degree than the other animals; now the right is naturally
both better than the left and separate from it, and so in man the
right is more especially the right, more dextrous that is, than in
other animals. The right then being differentiated it is only
reasonable that in man the left should be most movable, and most
detached. In man, too, the other starting-points are found most
naturally and clearly distinct, the superior part that is and the
front.
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