Quote

Evil, by definition, is that which endangers the good, and the good is what we perceive as a value.

— Konrad Lorenz

Sentiment: NEGATIVE

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✓Similar Perspectives

Evil is an attack against human spiritual development and enlightenment. All evil, badness, neurosis - it has one motive and one motive only, which is to destroy - to destroy your chance of arising above yourself.

— Vernon Howard

Evil is unintelligible. It is just a thing in itself, like boarding a crowded commuter train wearing only a giant boa constrictor. There is no context which would make it explicable.

— Terry Eagleton

I think that we all know what evil is. We have a sense of what's evil, and certainly killing innocent people is evil. We're less sure about what is good. There's sort of good, good enough, could be better - but absolute good is a little harder to define.

— Madeleine Albright

Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.

— Simone Weil

Evil is the interruption of a truth by the pressure of particular or individual interests.

— Alain Badiou

For something to be completely evil is to be nothing. Satan has good attributes - intelligence, for instance - but they are corrupted. I cannot reconcile myself emotionally to alternative understandings of evil.

— Scott Derrickson

Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.

— John Henry Newman

✗Opposing Perspectives

Evil exists to glorify the good. Evil is negative good. It is a relative term. Evil can be transmuted into good. What is evil to one at one time, becomes good at another time to somebody else.

— Mencius

Evil is a source of moral intelligence in the sense that we need to learn from our shadow, from our dark side, in order to be good.

— John Bradshaw

What we call 'evil' doesn't necessarily deserve any kind of respect or understanding, by any means; it just deserves an acknowledgement of its complexity so we can better understand it - so we can help prevent it.

— Bryan Singer