#goodandevil — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from George Orwell

By “nationalism” I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labeled “good” or “bad.” But secondly — and this is much more important — I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/16966/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #civicduty #classification #devotion #duty #evil #good #goodandevil #ingroup #jingoism #moralduty #nation #nationalism #nationality #outgroup #population #racism #stereotype #tribalism #usvsthem

A quotation from Madeleine L'Engle

We find what we are looking for. If we are looking for life and love and openness and growth, we are likely to find them. If we are looking for witchcraft and evil, we’ll likely find them, and we may get taken over by them.

Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007) American writer
Speech (1983-11-16), “Dare To Be Creative,” Lecture, Library of Congress, Washington, DC

More about this quote: wist.info/lengle-madeleine/823…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #madeleinelengle #censorship #confirmationbias #destination #finding #goodandevil #interpretation #looking #meaning #perspective #results #searching #seeking #reading #literature #art

A quotation from Euripides

MEDEA: And furthermore we are women, unable to perform noble deeds, but most skillful architects of every sort of harm.
 
[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ:                    Πρὸς δὲ καὶ πεφύκαμεν
   γυναῖκες, ἐς μὲν ἔσθλ᾽ ἀμηχανώταται,
   κακῶν δὲ πάντων τέκτονες σοφώταται.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 407ff (431 BC) [tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/81335/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #medea #chauvinism #goodandevil #misogyny #sexism #women

A quotation from Euripides

MEDEA: And furthermore we are women, unable to perform noble deeds, but most skillful architects of every sort of harm.
 
[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ:                    Πρὸς δὲ καὶ πεφύκαμεν
   γυναῖκες, ἐς μὲν ἔσθλ᾽ ἀμηχανώταται,
   κακῶν δὲ πάντων τέκτονες σοφώταται.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 407ff (431 BC) [tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/81335/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #medea #chauvinism #goodandevil #misogyny #sexism #women

A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

Nothing is so contagious as an example, and our every really good or bad action inspires a similar one.
 
[Rien n’est si contagieux que l’exemple, et nous ne faisons jamais de grands biens ni de grands maux qui n’en produisent de semblables.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶230 (1665-1678) [tr. Tancock (1959)]

More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #action #doinggood #emulation #example #goodandevil #imitation #precedent #suggestion #wrongdoing #badexample #goodexample #leadbyexample #setanexample

Solidarity seems like a noble goal, but it's specious at best. When rallying for a cause, we want solidarity – for others to join – but what if we are among the others? #Solidarity comes at the expense of self – fine if you are already committed. Otherwise, not so much.

https://philosophics.blog/2025/12/03/on-the-strange-politics-of-solidarity/?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social
#solidarity #ethics #virtue #commongood #teaching #indotrination #normativity #institution #philosophy #psychology #virtue #dogma #flourishing #boundaries #goodandevil #totalitarianism #morals #principles

Anackire

https://library.hrmtc.com/2025/09/19/anackire/

#book #DeEssesRomansNouvellesEtc #fantasy #FantasyFiction #FathersAndDaughters #FathersAndDaughtersFiction #fiction #goddesses #GoddessesFiction #goodAndEvil #GoodAndEvilFiction #GuerresEtBataillesImaginairesRomansNouvellesEtc #ImaginaryWarsAndBattles #ImaginaryWarsAndBattlesFiction #LiteratureFiction #PeResEtFillesRomansNouvellesEtc #review #ScienceFiction #TPolyphilus #TanithLee #WarsOfVis

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

In their moral justification, the argument of the lesser evil has played a prominent role. If you are confronted with two evils, thus the argument runs, it is your duty to opt for the lesser one, whereas it is irresponsible to refuse to choose altogether. […] Politically, the weakness of the argument has always been that those who choose the lesser evil forget very quickly that they chose evil.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Essay (1964-08), “Personal Responsibility Under Dictatorship,” The Listener Magazine

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/arendt-hannah/45553/

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A quotation from Euripides

HECUBA: It the duty of a good man to do good everywhere and always to punish the evil men.
 
[ἙΚΆΒΗ: ἐσθλοῦ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς τῇ δίκῃ θ᾿ ὑπηρετεῖν
   καὶ τοὺς κακοὺς δρᾶν πανταχοῦ κακῶς ἀεί.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Hecuba [Hekabe; Ἑκάβη], l. 844ff (c. 424 BC) [tr. Theodoridis (2007)]

Sourcing, notes, other translations: wist.info/euripides/76521/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #euripides #hecuba #duty #evil #goodandevil #goodperson #justice #rightandwrong #virtue #wrongdoing

A quotation from Teddy Roosevelt

   It is not possible to lay down an inflexible rule as to when compromise is right and when wrong; when it is a sign of the highest statesmanship to temporize, and when it is merely a proof of weakness. Now and then one can stand uncompromisingly for a naked principle and force people up to it. This is always the attractive course; but in certain great crises it may be a very wrong course. Compromise, in the proper sense, merely means agreement; in the proper sense opportunism should merely mean doing the best possible with actual conditions as they exist.
   A compromise which results in a half-step toward evil is all wrong, just as the opportunist who saves himself for the moment by adopting a policy which is fraught with future disaster is all wrong; but no less wrong is the attitude of those who will not come to an agreement through which, or will not follow the course by which, it is alone possible to accomplish practical results for good.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901-1909)
Essay (1900-06), “Latitude and Longitude Among Reformers,” The Century Magazine, Vol. 60, No. 2

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/1…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #teddyroosevelt #accomplishment #possibility #brightline #compromise #goodandevil #longterm #mutualagreement #necessaryevil #opportunist #practicality #pragmatism #principle #shortterm #temporization