Now I know the full power of evil. It makes ugliness seem beautiful and goodness seem ugly and weak.
The people who kill and torture and tell lies in the name of their sacred causes, these are never the publicans and the sinners. No, they're the virtuous, respectable men, who have the finest feelings, the best brains, the noblest ideals.
To a man born without conscience, a soul-stricken man must seem ridiculous. To a criminal, honesty is foolish. You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous.
Is there no Villain in this World who doth not regard himself as a poor abus'd Innocent, no She-Wolf who doth not think herself a Lamb, no Shark who doth not fancy that she is a Goldfish?
Every evil is some good spelt backwards, and in it the wise know how to read Wisdom.
But Rosa soon made the discovery that Miss Twinkleton didn't read fairly. She cut the love-scenes, interpolated passages in praise of female celibacy, and was guilty of other glaring pious frauds.
The neurotic usually obeys his own Golden Rule: Hate thy neighbor as thyself.
So will I turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all.
