Every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.—As the Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptation we resist.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Evil is in antagonism with the entire creation.
—Heinrich Zschokke (1771–1848) Swiss Writer, Reformer, Politician
Imaginary evils soon become real by indulging our reflections on them; as he who in a melancholy fancy sees something like a face on the wall or the wainscot, can, by two or three touches with a lead pencil, make it look visible, and agreeing with what he fancied.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Evils in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travelers on their road.—Both appear great at a distance, but when we approach them we find they are far less insurmountable than we had conceived.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
If we could annihilate evil we should annihilate hope, and hope is the avenue of faith.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
For every evil there is a remedy, or there is not; if there is one I try to find it; and if there is not, I never mind it.
—Dinah Craik (1826–87) British Novelist, Essayist, Poet
To be free from evil thoughts is God’s best gift.
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
Much that we call evil is really good in disguise; and we should not quarrel rashly with adversities not yet understood, nor overlook the mercies often bound up in them.
—Thomas Browne (1605–82) English Author, Physician
If you do what you should not, you must bear what you would not.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
There is some soul of goodness in things evil, would men observantly distil it out.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
Physical evils destroy themselves, or they destroy us.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
In the history of man it has been very generally the case, that when evils have grown insufferable they have touched the point of cure.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
As there is much beast and some devil in man, so there is some angel and some God in him.—The beast and devil may be conquered, but in this life are never destroyed.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
As surely as God is good, so surely there is no such thing as necessary evil.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
But evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart.
—Thomas Hood (1799–1845) English Poet, Humorist
The first evil choice or act is linked to the second; and each one to the one that follows, both by the tendency of our evil nature and by the power of habit, which holds us as by a destiny.—As Lessing says, “Let the devil catch you but by a single hair, and you are his forever.”
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
With every exertion the best of men can do but a moderate amount of good but it seems in the power of the most contemptible individual to do incalculable mischief.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
Even in evil, that dark cloud that hangs over creation, we discern rays of light and hope, and gradually come to see, in suffering and temptation, proofs and instruments of the sublimest purposes of wisdom and love.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
Good has but one enemy, the evil; but the evil has two enemies, the good and itself.
—Johannes von Muller (1752–1809) Swiss Scholar, Historian
This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
—Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English Novelist, Scriptwriter
All evils natural, are moral goods; all discipline, indulgence on the whole.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Many have puzzled themselves about the origin of evil. I am content to observe that there is evil, and that there is a way to escape from it, and with this I begin and end.
—John Newton (1725–1807) English Clergyman, Writer
There are three modes of bearing the ills of life: by indifference, which is the most common; by philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by religion, which is the most effectual.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
As it is the chief concern of wise men to retrench the evils of life by the reasonings of philosophy, it is the employment of fools to multiply them by the sentiments of superstition.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
We sometimes learn more from the sight of evil than from an example of good; and it is well to accustom ourselves to profit by the evil which is so common, while that which is good is so rare.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
There is this good in real evils,—they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that were imaginary.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
All evil, in fact the very existence of evil, is inexplicable till we refer to the fatherhood of God.—It hangs a huge blot in the universe till the orb of divine love rises behind it.—In that we detect its meaning.—It appears to us but a finite shadow, as it passes across the disk of infinite light.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
He who is in evil, is also in the punishment of evil.
—Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) Swedish Mystic, Theologian, Scientist
The lives of the best of us are spent in choosing between evils.
—Junius Unidentified English Writer