In the words of Justice Holmes, "Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife

"Rationally the failure to retreat is a circumstance to be considered with all the others in order to determine whether the defendant went farther than he was justified in doing...."

When read together with the no-retreat instruction, however, a person who, when threatened with an attack, does not retreat and stands his ground when exercising his right of self-defense is acting reasonably.

Under this doctrine of no retreat, a person entitled to use self-defense "does not have to consider whether a reasonable person in the situation would opt to retreat to safety rather than resorting to physical force to defend against unlawful force."

—nor is it "a condition of immunity that one in that situation should pause to consider whether a reasonable man might not think it possible to fly with safety or to disable his assailant rather than to kill him

I] fa man reasonably believes that he is in immediate danger of death or grievous bodily harm from his assailant he may stand his ground and that if he kills him he has not succeeded the bounds of lawful self defence

It explained that such illustrations, stated in the early law, "have had a tendency to ossify into specific rules without much regard for reason