One of the first things a child learns is that you never push a wild animal into a corner. But what if you're the animal in the corner & it's not playtime? Can the rules of human behavior be tossed aside?

Based on how you have stated it, the only time that it would be permissible would be if you were facing a life or death situation.  Sometimes it feels like that we are pushed to the point that we feel trapped because we are not allowed to transition.


Janet

I've been known to bite.
but I've had my shots.

one can only turn the other cheek so many times before you have become the person who has been beaten up sort to speak and escape is not always an option for instance if its hapening at work how do you escape quit your job i dont think so sometimes your dignity and honor requires you to bite back and i have sharp teeth if it comes to that.
jessica

Go for the throat.

The rules of human behavior include what to do when cornered.

Sometimes when we feel we are pushed into a corner, and we want to bite, if we stop to think a minute we will realize there is a smart way to get out of the corner with less damage to ourselves than if we fight.  You can react as an animal or you can react as a smart person.  Depending on the situation, the two reactions may be the same but most probably aren't. 

In most situations, the corner has an exit door.  The trick is to find it.

- Kate

We can feel cornered even if we aren't "really" cornered.

The only time I have been "really" truly cornered, I was physically stuck in an alley with a man twice my size. (Was a scrawny teen at the time, no more than 150lbs, which is nothing for my over 6 foot tall frame.) I reacted by smiling, playing nice, getting his guard down, and then I kneed him in the crotch with all the force I was able to muster, then I kneed him in the face with the other knee when he buckled over, and then I kicked him in the kidneys for good measure before I ran for it, just to be absolutely sure I wouldn't be followed at all....

Burly (I think) Russian sailor.

Point I'm making is that.. Once you are "really" truly cornered you can do whatever is necessary to get out of the corner.
But, if you aren't "truly" cornered, you can walk away, you can choose to try and get to the person that you feel is cornering you, you can get out of the corner, or realize, you aren't really in a corner.

More often than not, we corner ourselves because we can't think of solutions, because we don't want to compromise, because we "need" to be right, because of our own flaws, and when we lash out at the person or persons we "feel" are cornering us, then we're projecting our own flaws onto them, and it's not fair to them, Even if they're not being fair to us.

So yeah,..
Take a step back, look at the situation as objectively as you can, see if you can find a solution that doesn't require you to do unfair harm to someone else.
If you can't, then either, you're not objective enough and you could use the advice of someone else, or, you're really cornered, in which case, you can do whatever you can to get out of the corner.

Not to add fuel, but-

Here in the Sunshine State we have a "stand-your-ground" law.  If you truly feel that your life is in danger, or your families, you do not have to find a way out of that corner.  You can use deadly force. I believe that there is also a gay organization called Pink Pistols that teaches gays to use firearms and defend themselves.  I will not personally own a gun (depression) but some seem to gain strength from them.  I prefer to look poor and undesirable, hence warding off attack.  What? You thought I was trying to look good?