Evil

Evil

Evil is profound immorality, especially when regarded as a supernatural force, for example in religious belief. Evil is usually perceived as the dualistic opposite of good. Definitions of evil vary, as does the analysis of its root motives and causes; however, evil is commonly associated with conscious and deliberate wrongdoing, discrimination designed to harm others, humiliation of people designed to diminish their psychological well-being and dignity, destructiveness, motives of causing pain or suffering for selfish or malicious intentions, and acts of unnecessary or indiscriminate violence. The philosophical question of whether morality is absolute or relative leads to questions about the nature of evil, with views falling into one of four opposed camps: moral absolutism, amoralism, moral relativism, and moral universalism.

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Famous quotes containing the word evil:

    “The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life!” And yet can we cast out of our spirits all the good or evil poured into them by so many learned generations? Ignorance cannot be learned.
    Gérard De Nerval (1808–1855)

    The youth of an art is, like the youth of anything else, its most interesting period. When it has come to the knowledge of good and evil it is stronger, but we care less about it.
    Samuel Butler (1835–1902)

    When worse may yet befall, there’s room for prayer,
    But when our fortune’s at its lowest ebb,
    We trample fear beneath our feet, and live
    Without a fear of evil yet to come.
    Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso)