What is this thing we call “evil” anyway? It means different things to different people. We often toss the word around as if it means far less than it actually does. Yet above and beneath and beyond all this, most people have an innate sense of what evil means. We may identify various aspects or results of evil, but when you get right down to it, we do recognize it. So let’s take a look at some expressions of this primal idea.
The Nature of Evil
“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” – Socrates (1) "From whence is evil? ... as yet I knew not that evil was nothing but a privation of good, until at last a thing ceases altogether to be." – Augustine (2)
A proper discussion of evil begins by examining definitions. Socrates and Augustine propose two very popular, yet flawed, definitions of evil. They underestimate its power and scope.
Socrates’ proposition has the virtue of encouraging people to learn. But it also stipulates a lack of learning itself as evil. Worse, it promotes the idea that knowledge is inherently good. However, knowledge is ethically inert, neutral; good and evil apply to actions. Augustine presents the tempting argument that there is no such thing as evil. But a lack of good is not evil; that’s neutral, neither beneficial nor baneful. Evil entails more than indifference, evil exists as an active force of malice and willful harm.
So these two sages give us a third concept, neutrality, between the poles of good and evil. Now we have a spectrum, not just a pair of pigeonholes. Our model takes its first step towards resembling reality. Adding neutrality to good and evil creates a trinity, like the many triple-aspected deities found in Pagan religions.
“Evil is merely a mask – a dysfunction…” – Wendy Kaminer (3)
“Much in man’s world looks evil and ugly to us because we are seeing everything in an unfinished state of evolution…” – Elinor MacDonald (4)
Kaminer and MacDonald assert that just because something seems evil, it isn’t necessarily so. Their arguments have both positive and negative implications. On the dark side, this can allow an evil person to excuse her behavior by saying, “I’m not evil, I’m mentally ill,” or “Be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” On the bright side, this gives hope of halting the spread of evil; a sick person may receive treatment for her condition, an immature one may grow out of her noxious phase. Either way, Kaminer and MacDonald encourage us to look more closely at those acts and people we label “evil.”
“There is no Good, there is no Bad; these be the whims of mortal will:That works me weal that I call ‘good,’ what harms and hurts me I hold as ‘ill.’ ” – Sir Richard Burton (5)
Burton represents the view of relativism – the idea that neither good nor evil exist as absolutes, only as perspectives. This has validity in that it acknowledges our very human tendency to view the whole world in relation to ourselves, and it also expresses an awareness that different people may see the same action in different lights. Unfortunately, it also allows for indifference. All acts become defensible, not a pleasant prospect if you’ve read about the many atrocities humans have perpetrated on each other.
The most valuable thing we get from the concept of relativism is the awareness that our spectrum isn’t coated in superglue; it’s a sliding scale.
“If a person torturing and killing people is evil, why are gods who torture and kill people called good?” – Sheri S. Tepper (6)
Tepper asks a very hard question, one I’m fond of myself. She implies a standard so absolute as to cover not only human behavior, but also divine behavior. Imagine that: one moral standard for all entities. If it is wrong for humans to do something, it is wrong for a deity to do the same thing. Yet many religions feature deities whose actions would clearly be evil if done by humans.
Like all good, hard questions, this one also raises more questions. If we condemn as evil a man like Pol Pot, whose Cambodian genocide program killed over a million people, then do we or do we not apply the same standard to deities who encourage or command their followers to kill nonbelievers? (7) Is it wise or healthy to follow a deity who does wicked things? Do deities deserve the same consideration as humans – i.e. they can make mistakes, and learn from them, and grow – or must they be already perfect? Alternatively, does a separate ethical system apply to deities than to humans? Do we define as “good” whatever God(dess) decides to do, regardless of whether we would consider it “good” for a human to do the same thing? Is it impossible for a deity to be evil or to commit evil acts?
In studying different religions, I’ve considered this a lot. Many of the Greek gods couldn’t keep their togas tied. The Bible ascribes all manner of vicious acts to God, or to humans at God’s direct command, ranging from warfare to rape. In the Aztec pantheon, Quetzalcoatl is considered the most compassionate deity – because he demands only one human sacrifice a year. Personally, I tend to feel that an evil act is no less evil if performed by a deity, but I also prefer deities who can learn from their mistakes.
“Evil is easy, and has infinite forms.” – Blaise Pascal (8)
While Pascal does not define the core content of evil, he accurately captures the pervasive nature of the problem of evil. We must always watch for evil, because it can take any shape – it habitually lies and deceives, and one of its favorite disguises is good. Put the two halves of this quote together, and you get a warning that you should check carefully to make sure that easy things are not evil in disguise.
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” – Joseph Conrad (9)
Some religions present evil as a conscious entity, or entities; the Christian pantheon’s Satan ranks among the most famous. Others present evil only as a force, like virtue or gravity or only as an absence of good. The Spanish missionary Bartolome de las Casas witnessed his countrymen treating Native Americans much as stories describe demons treating damned souls; a particularly memorable example involved pouring the hapless victims full of boiling soap. (10) Conrad points out that while evil entities may exist, as well as evil deeds … they don’t have to.
“Evil is danger. Evil is hurting when not hurt or when hurting is not needed.” – David Weber (11)
One of the most widely recognized examples of evil is wanton destruction. Religions vary as to whether they allow violence as a form of retribution or discipline – but almost all of them condemn harming those who have not threatened anyone, or harming others for idle amusement. Of all the descriptions I’ve found, Weber’s cuts to the heart of a very complex concept. It implies that ethical beings use violence, if at all, as an absolute last resort, not as a matter of course or for entertainment.
The Foundations of Evil
“Three roots of every evil: covetousness, falsehood, and pride.” – W. Faraday, quoting a Druidic proverb (12)
Sometimes we find evil all too understandable, but other times it confuses us. In this Druidic triad, Faraday captures three roots of evil recognized in many cultures. When you want something regardless of the cost, when you lie to others or yourself, when you believe that you can do no wrong … then you run the risk of committing evil. Put them all together and you get the impetus for imperialism; look at how countries like England, Spain, France, and the United States have dominated the world in various periods. In many stories, evil entities also take advantage of innocent characters by appealing to their greed or pride, and by deceiving them. Turn these around, however, and you get three virtues – generosity, honesty, and humility – which uphold good and thwart evil.
“Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all – the apathy of human beings…” – Helen Keller (13)
“There is no sin or wrong that gives a man such a foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience…” – Catherine of Siena (14)
Helen Keller and Catherine of Siena list several more things that can both constitute and encourage evil. Apathy is devastating because it not only leads to horrible acts, it seeps into the hearts of more goodly folk and prevents them from intervening to stop the atrocities underway. Both anger and impatience disturb us as foundations of evil because almost everyone experiences these emotions personally. We can’t help but wonder what it would take for us to snap and do something ghastly. Yet at the same time, Catherine of Siena hints that hell is largely a self-constructed reality; if anger and impatience can evoke hell, then perhaps tenderness and patience can evoke paradise.
“Evil is wrought by want of Thought As well as want of Heart.” – Thomas Hood (15)
Pagan religions often point out that God(dess) gave you a brain and expects you to use it. Evil can work through negligence as well as malice. Ethical behavior means thinking things through before you do them. It means paying attention to other people as well as yourself. It means asking the right questions: Why are you doing this? Who benefits? What consequences may result? Could this action cause harm?
Hood reminds us that among one of evil’s defining traits is impulsiveness. Evil entities often don’t stop to consider the consequences, because they don’t care about the consequences. They only care about themselves. But if you don’t look before you leap, it’s easy to jump right off a cliff. Good often triumphs over evil simply through better planning and cooperation.
"The lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness ... When the weak want to give an impression of strength they hint menacingly at their capacity for evil. It is by its promise of a sense of power that evil often attracts the weak." – Eric Hoffer (16)
Hoffer’s premise underlies everything from hate crimes to terrorism. Sneak attacks against an unarmed and/or unprepared opponent highlight the attackers’ cowardice. For example, three white supremacists chained an African-American man behind their truck and dragged him to death. (17) In another incident, Timothy McVeigh set off a bomb in the Oklahoma City federal building. (18) Perpetrators of such atrocities typically intend to scare survivors into letting them have their own way; they aim to advance their own agenda at someone else’s expense.
The Personalities of Evil
“I know indeed what evil I intend to do, but stronger than all my afterthoughts is my fury, fury that brings upon mortals the greatest evils.” – Euripedes (19)
Euripedes voices a common aspect of evil, brutality. When manifest in humanity, evil appears in many styles. One common example is someone with a vicious temper. This person knows the difference between right and wrong, but fails to exercise the self-control required for appropriate decisions. He may think first before striking; he may mutter over his actions later; but it doesn’t stop him from behaving brutally. Often it doesn’t even inspire him to apologize or make amends.
The pervasive threat of domestic violence often gets overlooked. Yet at least three women per day die at the hands of a partner; about one third of women experience physical or sexual abuse by a husband or boyfriend sometime during their lives; and over three million children per year witness the abuse of their mothers or other caretakers. (20) Those are just the numbers in America; you do the math.
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." – Blaise Pascal (21)
“Deviant: Like the Ethical attitude, this character lives by a strict and ordered moral code. But this code is centered around the Deviant character’s self-centered personal goals. He respects honor and self-discipline in others, and may even protect the innocent, but will not tolerate anyone who works to cross him. (Lawful Evil)” – Paul Jaquays (22)
Both Pascal and Jaquays warn us about the evil person who believes himself good and his actions praiseworthy. He may stand a bit to one side of his home culture’s morality, or he may actually convince other people to go along with his plans. If you’re not with him, you’re against him, and he won’t hesitate to destroy you if he can. In this guise, evil can prove appallingly attractive. This type of person sometimes possesses unusual charisma. One man doing evil causes harm enough, but when he can inspire others to do likewise – with a smile! – that spells disaster.
Consider that the individuals responsible for the 9/11 atrocity believed themselves holy warriors destined for paradise. That’s religious conviction in action, taken to an evil extreme. Even less rational are the “pro-life” radicals who murder physicians or bomb clinics. On the other hand, look at people like Lenin and Stalin who had quite systematic ideas about how a society should work, and proceeded to shove as many people as possible into their own particular reality tunnel. Just because a given code remains internally consistent, doesn’t necessarily make it decent.
“Depraved: Self-serving and unscrupulous. Like the Self-Centered attitude … seeks to fulfill personal desires, but … this character will do anything to obtain his goals. A depraved character may even torture and kill for the sheer fun of it. (Neutral Evil)” – Paul Jaquays (23)
“Any time that you count your will more important than the will of another, you are harming them. Whenever you decide that what you want is what you will get, no matter what, you are harming someone.” – Robin Wood (24)
Jaquays and Wood introduce us to the sordid kind of evil, which may or may not come with delusions of grandeur. Not all of the people responsible for the Inquisition were religious zealots, for example; some simply wanted the chance to abuse victims or to abscond with the worldly goods of convicted witches.
The Wiccan Rede (“An it harm none, do as thou will.”) explicitly directs followers to avoid this type of evil, which manifests as overblown selfishness. The Rede requires Wiccans to consider the needs of others, not just themselves. Many other Pagans have adopted this code, and other religions often have similar rules.
“Diabolical: The despicable Diabolical character has no code of ethics. He is unpredictable, helps others only to be able to hurt them later, despises all that is honorable, disciplined or that reminds him of authority. (Chaotic Evil)” – Paul Jaquays (25)
Ask most folks to describe an evil personality, and you’ll get some version of Jaquays’ villain – black hat, twirling moustaches, maniacal laugh, and all. This individual does ghastly things, knowingly and on purpose, just for the hell of it. He can’t stand to see anyone else having fun or living a peaceful life.
I once caught part of an interview with Charles Manson on television. The interviewer had accused him of wanting to wipe out the whole of humanity. Manson replied, with perfect calm and a mad glitter in his eyes, “No I don’t. If I did, there’d be none of you left.” No doubt but what he meant it, too. Imagine someone like this with access to weapons of mass destruction.
While real, this type of personality is also rare. Few people think of themselves as evil, even if they are. Watch for the black hats if you like, but take care. Meanwhile, the bully and the righteous warrior are sneaking up behind you.
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" – Alexander Solzhenitsyn (26)
Solzhenitsyn expresses a basic truth which makes most people shy away. Some people do commit deeds dire enough that they must not remain free to terrorize others. Call me an optimist if you like, but I also believe in the existence of at least a few saintly folks in whose heart evil can find no foothold. Just as we find fire and ice in nature, we occasionally find moral absolutes in humanity. Too much belief in divisible good and evil can lead to things like Hitler’s “final solution” – blame everything on the Jews and other target groups, get rid of them, and presto: utopia. (27) Not.
The vast majority of people fall somewhere in between. Both good and evil call to us, like those cartoons where the dithering character has an angel on one shoulder and a demon on the other, each shouting advice in her ears. Some Pagan religions like Wicca explicitly balance light and dark. Gothic Paganism argues that you cannot banish the shadow side of your soul, and if you do, then you deny part of your power and invite it to wreak havoc by breaking loose at inopportune moments. The general premise goes, if you want to achieve real growth, you must acknowledge what holds you back before you can overcome it.
So if you can’t deny the shadow side of yourself, and you can’t banish it, what can you do? How do you keep from turning into one of the dastardly devils described above? Well, you learn how evil works, and then you do other things. This brings us to our next section.
The Workings of Evil
“The evil impulse is at first like a passer-by, then like a lodger, and finally like the master of the house.” – Elliot Beier quoting the Talmud. (28)
The Talmud warns that among the most pernicious and consistent effects of evil is its tendency to grow on you. It gains a small foothold and from there takes over everything. Every time someone gives in to evil, however briefly, makes it that much easier for it to happen again. Small acts can lead to larger ones, too. Evil may pretend to serve, but remember: it always means to master.
Conversely, one of the most effective counters for evil is plain old willpower – or, if you prefer, stubbornness. Say no. Say it again. Say it every time you hear things like, “Nobody will notice if we just take one,” or “Let’s get him, won’t that be fun?” Whenever you decline to fan the flames yourself, you rake a little more fuel out from the fire.
"... the end justifies the means." – Niccolo Machiavelli (29)
Machiavelli just about invented the art of justification. Evil excels at making excuses for itself. With rare exceptions, people do not exult in evil behavior. They cover it up. They claim to be doing something decent, or reasonable, or least necessary. They try to convince others that they had every right to do what they did.
A favorite trick involves arguing that only an evil act can save something that everyone considers good. The problem is that a worthy goal is only as good as its foundation. But the end does not justify the means; the end derives from the means. Early American slaveowners typically believed that slavery uplifted the slaves from barbarism and helped build a wonderful country. Centuries later, we’re still trying to clean up the mess they made of race relations in America.
“People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.” – Abigail Van Buren (30)
“If you fill your mouth with a razor, you will spit blood.” – Charlotte and Wolf Leslau, quoting a Nigerian proverb (31)
Van Buren and the Leslaus each illustrate different ways in which evil causes problems for people who use it. In any form, evil wreaks a destructive force against everything around it. There is no “safe” way to take advantage of it; dealing with evil always entails a risk. Evil is an acid that eats away at its own container, or – to reprise the image I used in the title – a sword without a hilt that cuts the wielder’s hand. Yet many people persist in believing that they can somehow control it, keep the destruction focused only on the things they want destroyed. It doesn’t work that way.
Review a timeline of America’s “interventions” in Middle Eastern politics and you can see how this plays out. Selling weapons into a political hot zone, encouraging countries to pick on each other, supporting leaders who turn around and bite the hand that fed them – you name it, and it’s on the list. (32) Vicious circles form the wheels of history.
“It seems to me that evil is a kind of ultimate greed, a greed that is so all-encompassing that it can’t ever see anything lovely, rare, or precious without wanting to possess it. A greed so total that if it can’t possess these things, it will destroy them rather than chance that someone else might have them. And a greed so intense that even having these things never causes it to lessen one iota – the lovely, the rare and the precious never affect it except to make it want them. … Evil can’t create, it can only copy, mar, or destroy, because it’s so taken up with itself.” – Mercedes Lackey (33)
Lackey demonstrates that there is no such thing as “enough” for an evil personality. It takes and takes, because it knows nothing of giving or receiving; it knows only “want” and not “have.” This neatly illustrates the Wiccan belief that if you do not find what you seek within yourself, you have no hope of finding it anywhere else.
Then too, misery loves company. Evil never rests content with doing its own thing, messing up its own yard. It wants to come mess up your yard and make you unhappy too. It spreads not only through willing accomplices, but also by taking over territory from the unwilling who happen to stand close enough.
For all its power and its diversity, evil is a fundamentally limited concept. It does not plan, imagine, or cooperate well. It isn’t even sustainable; it uses up all the available resources and then burns itself out or turns on itself. But most of all, evil gets boring. There are only so many ways to destroy the world, after all. Creativity, on the other hand, is infinite. Each act of creation yields something unique.
“Evil deeds do not prosper; the slow man catches up with the swift.” – Homer (34)
“He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner.” – Hesiod 35
Homer and Hesiod both observe phenomena that tie into some of the previous ones, and they also tie into each other. Everything connects to everything else, as most Pagan religions point out. Thistle seeds grow into thistle plants; they don’t grow into daisies. So the more someone uses evil to try and get ahead … the more she winds up falling behind.
Thus in all guises and effects, you can see evil as an entropic force. It wears away at the world. It eats people from the inside out. It spoils everything that it touches. But most of all, it gets in its own way, and that gives the creative force an edge.
The Redemption of Evil
“There is some soul of goodness in things evil, Would men observingly distill it out.” – William Shakespeare (36)
Here Shakespeare captures the sense of hope. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about evil is that no one is unsalvageable who does not choose to be. Mythology and modern literature alike present us with tales of characters who decide to forgo evil in favor of good. The problem is that people, even decent people, tend to quit looking. They see only what they expect to see, and that does everyone a disservice. Imagine the torment of wanting to change, only to find that nobody cares.
Few things in our world fall into plain black or white. Most incorporate a blend of the two extremes, good and evil. It’s easy to say, “That idea, that person, that country, that anything – is evil,” and thereby dismiss it from all concern. It’s hard to look for the good in an idea that causes you stress, or a person who behaves obnoxiously toward you, or a country whose policies you find offensive. But if you’ve been reading this article at all carefully, you’ll know which is the right answer.
“He doesn’t love you.” Agonostis could hear the sneer in the Archfiend’s voice.
“No. He doesn’t. But love is an emotion of hope and faith. If he does not love me now, that is of no matter. His soul is changed for the better, and may change further with time. He may come back to me someday. In the meantime, he is no longer yours.” – Holly Lisle (37)
Lisle gives us a wonderful snippet of dialog in which the Devil argues with God over the fate of Agonostis, a fallen angel who has recently fallen in love with a human woman. Part of God’s argument includes the point that Hell, by definition, has no room for love. No one who truly loves can stay in Hell. God – and this is the God of all things, who appears in various guises through this book and its sequels, including several Pagan variations – has infinite patience and infinite forgiveness. We may have more limited patience and forgiveness ourselves, but this God still sets a worthy example for which we could aim.
Evil is not the only force which can gain a small foothold and grow from there. Good can do the same thing. Sometimes, it sneaks up on people when they least expect it. No matter how dire the situation, no matter how terrible and tragic the past, the opportunity always exists to recant, apologize, make reparations for harm done. Where we give up, where mortal virtue runs out in the face of vivid evil, the Divine takes over for us.
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.” – John Newton (38)
Just about everyone has heard that hymn, even non-Christians. But not everyone knows that the story it tells is true. The author, John Newton, got a rather awful start in life and for a long time worked in the slaving industry. He personally perpetrated a number of horrors on other human beings, and at the time often did so without qualms. Some of his later experiences – most notably a tremendous storm at sea – impressed upon him the nature of Divinity and he began to change. By the end of his life, he had figured out that slavery was evil, and his work in abolition not only helped directly but also inspired some other folks who became major figures in that cause.
Enlightenment doesn’t always come all at once, and it doesn’t always come to the deserving. Sometimes it comes in uncomfortable fits and jerks to the people who deserve it least and need it most. The fact that a person has committed atrocities and not realized it does not preclude the chance of his acquiring a clue later, and changing his whole life. Think about that carefully, because if someone had killed John Newton for his admittedly ghastly acts, the abolition movement would have been short some of its most inspiring material.
“The Lone Power rose up, slowly, like one discovering walking after a life of lameness. … Nita’s eyes filled with tears as she wondered how darkness could be so bright. Lightbringer He was, and star of the morning; and like the morning star, He needed the darkness, and shone brighter in it, and made it blessed….” – Diane Duane39
Of all the descriptions of evil I have encountered, this ranks among my favorites. In this universe, so deftly rendered by author Diane Duane, the Powers created life … and the Lone Power quarreled with them and invented entropy. So the Powers invented wizards to slow the death of the universe. One of those wizards finally woke a race of machine life powerful enough to challenge the Adversary, and win. Here is evil at its most basic: sullen, malicious, hateful, destructive, resentful of all life and joy. Yet at heart the Lone Power is the Lonely Power, desperately miserable and unfulfilled, yearning for what it has lost yet unable to hope.
So the wizards, and the other Powers, graciously lend it some of their hope. They corner the Lone Power, give it a brisk whacking with a clue-by-four, and bring it back where it belongs. And that changes everything. We get a glimpse, just a glimpse, of the friendly darkness that makes the light shine brighter. We see what can happen when death becomes an ally instead of an enemy.
In the end, good proves more alluring than evil – so much so that not even the very inventor of evil can resist its attraction. Creation wins destruction over to its side. This speaks of more than the nature of life, it reveals the nature of the whole universe. Reality is a growth process. All of existence tends toward expansion, complexity, elegance. The smaller forces within the whole may seem to conflict with each other, yet the overall pattern remains visible. Good triumphs not just through perseverance of its own, but also because evil gets tired of being lonely and miserable.
So when confronting manifestations of evil, protect yourself as thoroughly necessary … but always offer a chance for them to come around. You never know when one of them will take it, thus saving everyone a lot of grief.
Conclusion
We live in an imperfect world. Yet by studying its imperfections, we can figure out ways of bringing it closer to perfection. The more you investigate different religions and cultures, the more examples you can find. Evil has identifiable characteristics and consistent tendencies of behavior. You can learn to keep it mostly out of your life, and you can learn to defeat it when a confrontation becomes inevitable. Large or small, every victory counts.
* * *
References
1) Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Emminent Philosophers by Socrates, bk. II, sec. 31. Reference taken from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Expanded Multimedia Edition, Time Warner Electronic Publishing, New York, 1995.
2) The Confessions by Augustine. Reference taken from “Word Gems: Evil” at www.chariscorp-wordgems.com/evil.html, 10/14/02.
3) Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom: A Collection of 10,000 Inspirational Quotations collected by Andy Zubko. Blue Dove Press, San Diego, CA, 1998, p. 134.
4) Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom, p. 134.
5) The Kasidah by Sir Richard Burton. Reference taken from The PocketBookof Quotations edited by Henry Davidoff. Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1942, 1952, p. 119.
6) The Fresco by Sheri S. Tepper. EOS, New York, NY, 2000, p. 90.
7) “The Legacy of Pol Pot,” no credits listed. www.time.com/time/daily/polpot/1.html Data accessed 10/23/02.
8) Pensées by Blaise Pascal, no. 408, 1670. Reference taken from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Expanded Multimedia Edition.
9) Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad, pt. II, ch. 4, 1911. Reference taken from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Expanded Multimedia Edition.
10) “Genocide of the American Indian Peoples,” no author listed.
http://free.freespeech.org/americanstateterrorism/usgenocide/IndianPeoples.html Data accessed 10/23/02.
11) Heirs of Empire by David Weber. Baen, New York, NY, 1996, p. 42.
12) Druidic Triads: The Wisdom of the Cymry by W. Faraday. Sure Fire Press, Edmonds, WA, 1984, p. 7.
13) Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom, p. 26.
14) Treasury of Spiritual Wisdom, p. 21.
15) The Lady’s Dream by Thomas Hood. Reference taken from The Pocket Bookof Quotations edited by Henry Davidoff. Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1942, 1952, p.81.
16) The Passionate State of Mind by Eric Hoffer. Reference taken from “Word Gems: Evil” at www.chariscorp-wordgems.com/evil.html.
17) “Byrd Dragged to Death” by Jeff Franks, June 12, 1998. www.mdcbowen.org/p2/bh/byrd.htm.
18) “The Worst Terrorist Attack on U.S. Soil: April 19, 1995” by Tony Clark, CNN Interactive, December 30, 1995. www.cnn.com/US/OKC/daily/9512/12-30/.
19) Medea by Euripedes, 431 B.C., 1.1078. Reference taken from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Expanded Multimedia Edition.
20) “National Domestic Violence Statistics,” no author listed, from Jane Doe, Inc. www.janedoe.org/know.htm. Data accessed 10/23/02.
21) Blaise Pascal, 1670, from “Word Gems: Evil” at www.chariscorp-wordgems.com/evil.html.
22) Central Casting: Heroes of Legend by Paul Jaquays. Task Force Games, Van Nuys, CA, 1988, p.33.
23) Central Casting.
24) When, Why…If: An Ethics Workbook by Robin Wood. Livingtree Books, Dearborn, MI, 1996, p. 90.
25) Central Casting.
26) The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Reference taken from “Word Gems: Evil” at www.chariscorp-wordgems.com/evil.html.
27) “Hitler and the Final Solution,” no author listed. http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/Final_Solution.html. Data accessed 10/23/02.
28) Talmud quote. Reference taken from Wit and Wisdom of Israel edited by Elliot Beier. Peter Pauper Press, Mount Vernon, NY, 1968, p. 6.
29) Niccolo Machiavelli. Reference taken from “Word Gems: Evil” at www.chariscorp-wordgems.com/evil.html.
30) Abigail Van Buren. The Wisdom of the Midwest: Common Sense and Uncommon Genius from 101 Great Midwesterners compiled and edited by Dr. Criswell Freeman. Walnut Grove Press, no address given, 1996, p. 141.
31) Nigerian proverb from African Proverbs compiled by Charlotte and Wolf Leslau. Peter Pauper Press, Mount Vernon, NY, 1962, p. 46.
32) “Not So Fast, Sen. Lott” by Eric Margolis, The Wisdom Fund, February 16, 1998. www.twf.org/News/Y1998/IraqLott.html.
33) Arrow’s Fall by Mercedes Lackey. DAW Books, New York, NY, 1988, pp. 210-211.
34) The Odyssey by Homer, bk. VIII, 1.329. Reference taken from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Expanded Multimedia Edition.
35) Works and Days by Hesiod, 1.265. Reference taken from Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations Expanded Multimedia Edition.
36) Henry V by William Shakespeare, IV, 1. Reference taken from The Pocket Book of Quotations.
37) Sympathy for the Devil by Holly Lisle. Baen, Riverdale, NY, 1996, p. 232.
38) “Amazing Grace – More Than a Hymn,” no author listed for article, hymn by John Newton, November 3, 2001. www.lilesnet.com/patriotic/music/amaz.htm.
39) High Wizardry by Diane Duane in the omnibus Support Your Local Wizard. Delacorte Press, New York, NY, 1990, p. 471.
This article originally appeared in PanGaia magazine.