best quotations about
Good & Evil |
| 71 quotes | Visits: 35,642 |
Quotations
 | The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. — Edmund Burke, 1729-1797, British statesman & philosopher 42 likes |
 | The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. — Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, German-Jewish physicist 42 likes |
 | The good man is free, even if he is a slave. The evil man is a slave, even if he is a king. — Saint Augustine, 354-430, Christian theologian & philosopher 25 likes |
 | There is an old illusion. It is called good and evil. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 19 likes |
 | Everything that depends on the action of nature is by nature as good as it can be. — Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 17 likes |
 | The evil you do stays with you. The good you do returns to you. — Bouddha, 563-483 BC, Indian founder of Buddhism 14 likes |
 | Every other knowledge is harmful to him who does not have knowledge of goodness. — Michel de Montaigne, 1533-1592, French thinker 14 likes |
 | There is an angel inside me whom I am constantly shocking. — Jean Cocteau, 1889-1963, French artist 14 likes |
 | Good and evil are so close as to be chained together in the soul. — Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894, Scottish writer 14 likes |
 | Someone asked him if it would be possible to hide evil from the gods. He said, “Not even in your thoughts.” — Thales of Miletus, 643-548 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 13 likes |
 | Those who understand evil pardon it. — George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish writer, Nobel 1925 12 likes |
 | So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money? — Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher 10 likes |
 | Evil happens without effort, naturally, inevitably; Good is always the product of skill. — Charles Baudelaire, 1821-1867, French poet 10 likes |
 | There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it doesn't behoove any of us to speak evil of the rest of us. — Edgar Cayce, 1877-1945, American mystic & prophet 10 likes |
 | Little evil would be done in the world if evil never could be done in the name of good. — Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830-1916, German author of maxims 9 likes |
 | There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. — Martin Luther King, 1929-1968, American leader in the Civil Rights Movement 8 likes |
 | Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good. — Saint Thomas Aquinas, 1225-1274, Italian Dominican friar & philosopher 8 likes |
| That which is done out of love is always beyond good and evil. — Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher 7 likes |
 | The pious pretence that evil does not exist only makes it vague, enormous and menacing. — Aleister Crowley, 1875-1945, British magician & occultist, 6 likes |
 | People always try to find base motives behind every good action. We are afraid of pure goodness and of pure evil. — Eugene Ionesco, 1912-1994, French-Romanian playwright 6 likes |
| Evil requires the sanction of the victim. — Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, American writer & philosopher 5 likes |
 | Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good. — Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933, American President [1923-1929] 5 likes |
 | State interference is an evil, where it cannot be shown to be a good. — Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., 1841-1935, 5 likes |
 | To a chemist, nothing on earth is unclean. A writer must be as objective as a chemist; he must abandon the subjective line; he must know that dungheaps play a very respectable part in a landscape, and that evil passions are as inherent in life as good ones. — Anton Chekhov, 1860-1904, Russian writer 5 likes |
 | Absolute depth knows neither good nor evil. Thus the intelligence of evil goes far beyond pessimism. — Jean Baudrillard, 1929-2007, French intellectual 4 likes |
 | A necessary evil is not a lesser evil. The worst evil is the one we need. For example, money. — Alain de Benoist, 1943-, French philosopher 4 likes |
 | Active Evil is better than Passive Good. — William Blake, 1757-1827, English poet & painter 3 likes |
 | Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating. — Simone Weil, 1909-1943, French philosopher 3 likes |
 | Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally evil, but by people being fundamentally people. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 2 likes |
 | It’s easier to convert a good person to bad than a bad person to good. — Theognis of Megara, 6th cent. BC, Ancient Greek poet 2 likes |
 | Evil knows of the Good, but Good does not know of Evil. Knowledge of oneself is something only Evil has. — Franz Kafka, 1883-1924, Bohemian writer 2 likes |
 | Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil. — Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658, Spanish writer 1 likes |
 | Men look not at the greatness of the evil past, but the greatness of the good to follow. — Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, English philosopher 1 likes |
 | Don’t take my demons away, because my angels may flee too. — Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet 1 likes |
 | When evil-doing comes like falling rain, nobody calls out “stop!”. When crimes begin to pile up they become invisible. When sufferings become unendurable, the cries are no longer heard. The cries, too, fall like rain in summer. — Bertolt Brecht, 1898-1956, German writer 1 likes |
 | Nature, in her indifference, makes no distinction between good and evil. — Anatole France, 1844-1924, French writer, Nobel 1921 1 likes |
| Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things. — Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, British writer 1 likes |
 | We should live totally in the face of the night and of the Evil. — Martin Heidegger, 1889-1976, German philosopher 1 likes |
 | This is the very worst wickedness, that we refuse to acknowledge the passionate evil that is in us. This makes us secret and rotten. — D. H. Lawrence, 1885-1930, British writer 1 likes |
 | If there was no moral evil upon earth, there would be no physical evil. — Joseph De Maistre, 1753-1821, Savoyard diplomat & philosopher 1 likes |
 | A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint. — Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher 1 likes |
 | I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil. I am just a small girl in a big world trying to find someone to love. — Marilyn Monroe, 1926-1962, American actress 1 likes |
 | Good to evil seems evil. — Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
 | The ultimate test ... to see the good in evil and the evil in good. — Frank Herbert, 1920-1986, American sci-fi writer 1 likes |
 | It is absolutely forbidden to repay evil with evil. — Tertullian, 155-240 AD, Berber-Roman Christian author 1 likes |
| Just as no soul is without sin, so neither is any soul without seeds of good. — Tertullian, 155-240 AD, Berber-Roman Christian author 1 likes |
 | The evil of television is not in television, it is in the world. — Christian Bobin, 1951-2022, French writer 1 likes |
 | The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness. — Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, British-Polish writer 1 likes |
| Evil when we are under its power is not felt as evil but as a necessity, or even a duty. — Simone Weil, 1909-1943, French philosopher 1 likes |
 | Seek for good, but expect evil. — Miguel Cervantes, 1547-1616, Spanish writer 1 likes |
| Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it. — Baltasar Gracian, 1601-1658, Spanish writer 1 likes |
 | He who does not punish evil commands it to be done. — Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian polymath & painter 1 likes |
Latin Quotes
 | Bad from the good. De malo, bonum. 64 likes |
| All good from God, all evil from man. Omne bonum a Deo, omne malum ab homine. — Saint Augustine, 354-430, Christian theologian & philosopher 63 likes |
| An evil thing known is best. Nota res mala, optima. 46 likes |
Quotes in Verse
 | Evil is unspectacular and always human, And shares our bed and eats at our own table. — W.H. Auden, 1907-1973, British poet 2 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. Εν μόνον αγαθόν είναι, την επιστήμην, και εν μόνον κακόν, την αμαθίαν. — Socrates, 469-399 BC, Ancient Geek Philosopher 110 likes |
 | Nothing bad is without something good. Ουδέν κακόν αμιγές καλού. 76 likes |
 | There are many evils and there is no worse evil than man. Πολλά τα δεινά κουδέν ανθρώπου δεινότερον πέλει. — Sophocles, 496-406 BC, Ancient tragic poet ‐ Antigone 51 likes |
 | There cannot be good without evil, but in their mixture things may turn out well. Ουκ αν γένοιτο χωρίς εσθλά και κακά, αλλ’ έστι τις σύγκρασις, ώστ’ έχειν καλώς. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Aeolus 35 likes |
 | Good and evil are the same thing. Αγαθόν και κακόν ταυτόν. — Heraclitus, 544-484 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 33 likes |
 | Pleasure, a most mighty lure to evil. Ηδονήν, μέγιστον κακού δέλεαρ. — Plato, 427-347 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 27 likes |
 | The evil decision is most evil for him who takes it. Η δε κακή βουλή τω βουλεύσαντι κακίστη. — Hesiod, 7th cent. BC, Ancient Greek poet ‐ Works and Days -266 20 likes |
| The good can never mix with the evil. Κακώ γαρ εσθλόν ου συμμείγνυται. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Ion 15 likes |
| You don’t fight evil with evil. Κακόν κακού ου άπτεται. 4 likes |
| No one is evil by choice. Ουδείς εκών κακός. — Socrates, 469-399 BC, Ancient Geek Philosopher 4 likes |
| The good can never mix with the evil. Κακώ γαρ εσθλόν ου συμμείγνυται. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian 2 likes |
| A small evil is a great good. Μικρόν κακόν, μέγα αγαθόν. 1 likes |
Proverbs
 | Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know. 12 likes |
| See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. 7 likes |
Movie Quotes
 | The list is an absolute good. The list is life. — from the film Schindler’s List (1993) 7 likes |
