Evil fascinates us. It’s a dark mirror reflecting human nature’s worst traits. Quotes from evil people can chill us to the bone, offering a glimpse into their minds.
These words are more than mere sentences; they carry weight and history. Each quote you read will leave an impression, making you think deeper about good, evil, and the thin line between them.
Origins of the Quotes
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“There are poisons that blind you, and poisons that open your eyes.” – August Strindberg
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” – Charles Baudelaire
“The heart of the wicked is full of schemes.” – Proverb
“Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark.” – Cheyenne Proverb
“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” – Terry Pratchett
“To see a man devoid of conscience is a terrifying spectacle.” – Arthur Koestler
“Some people are so much sunshine to the square inch, others are so much shadow to the square foot.” – Walt Whitman
“A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told.” – Chris Colfer
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” – William Shakespeare
“We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside us.” – Charles Darwin
“The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.” – William Shakespeare
“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” – Dante Alighieri
“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.” – J.K. Rowling
“What makes night within us may leave stars.” – Victor Hugo
“Man is the cruelest animal.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“When good people consider you the bad guy, you develop a heart to help the bad ones.” – Darnell Lamont Walker
“The owl of ignorance lays the egg of pride.” – Proverb
“It is not the monsters we should be afraid of; it is the people that don’t recognize the monsters within themselves.” – Original Quote
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” – Stephen King
“There are no heroes…in life, the monsters win.” – George R.R. Martin
“The only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“The devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.” – Charles Baudelaire
“If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“People who do bad things are not necessarily bad people; sometimes they just make the wrong choices.” – Original Quote
“We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them.” – Charles Caleb Colton
“The worst of us is not without innocence, although buried deeply it might be.” – Walt Disney
“People who are capable of such crimes are capable of anything.” – Agatha Christie
“Those who understand evil are often not evil themselves but are capable of compassion for those who are.” – Original Quote
“In the absence of light, darkness prevails.” – Movie Quote (The Devil’s Advocate)
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” – Joseph Conrad
“There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.” – Frederick Faber
Historical Context of the Quotes
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” – William Shakespeare, The Tempest
“The world has not seen a more fully abused and evil invention than printing” – Martin Luther
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.” – Buddha
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” – Anne Frank
“The face of evil is always the face of total need.” – William S. Burroughs
“There is no denying that there is evil in this world but the light will always conquer the darkness.” – Idowu Koyenikan
“To see and listen to the wicked is already the beginning of wickedness.” – Confucius
“The evil that is in the world almost always comes from ignorance.” – Albert Camus
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” – Socrates
“The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.” – William Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well
“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” – Terry Pratchett
“The depths of evil are so dark but not unfathomable; a mere reflection of the shadows in a heart lost to malevolence.” – Original
“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“There is no honor among thieves.” – Proverb
“The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.” – William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” – Dante Alighieri
“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” – Blaise Pascal
“He who does not punish evil commands it to be done.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (though not directly related to evil, it reflects societal expectations which can lead to malicious acts)
“I’d rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.” – Harry Emerson Fosdick
“Evil unchecked grows, evil tolerated poisons the whole system.” – Jawaharlal Nehru
“Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.” – Margaret Atwood
“We have met the enemy, and he is us.” – Walt Kelly
“There is a higher court than courts of justice, and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau
“Evil people rely on the acquiescence of naive good people to allow them to survive.” – Stuart Aken
“The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations.” – Adam Smith
“To live is to suffer; to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Quotes from Notorious Figures
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” – Karl Marx
“When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope we use.” – Joseph Stalin
“The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.” – Attributed to Joseph Stalin
“Power is not a means; it is an end.” – George Orwell, 1984
“I call the shots in my business, and I do so with an iron fist.” – Al Capone
“To conquer a nation, first disarm its citizens.” – Adolf Hitler
“I can make a lord, but only God can make a gentleman.” – King James I
“The object of power is power.” – George Orwell, 1984
“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” – Lao Tzu
“He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – Lord Acton
“The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” – Thucydides
“One death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” – Attributed to Joseph Stalin
“I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” – Abraham Lincoln
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” – The Dark Knight
“War does not determine who is right — only who is left.” – Bertrand Russell
“The evil that men do lives after them.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.” – Oscar Wilde
“Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.” – John Milton, Paradise Lost
“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.” – Richard Feynman
“What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
“Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.” – Oscar Wilde
“All warfare is based on deception.” – Sun Tzu
“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.” – Niccolò Machiavelli
“Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.” – Che Guevara
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” – Mark Twain
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” – William Shakespeare, The Tempest
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda, Star Wars
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
Impact of the Quotes on Society
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” – Albert Einstein
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” – William Shakespeare
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.” – Mary Wollstonecraft
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” – Joseph Conrad
“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.” – Oscar Wilde
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” – Albert Einstein
“Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult.” – Anne Rice
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” – Dante Alighieri
“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” – Terry Pratchett
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” – Lord Acton
“The face of evil is always the face of total need.” – William S. Burroughs
“There is no denying that there is evil in this world but the light will always conquer the darkness.” – Idowu Koyenikan
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.” – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“To see evil and not call it evil is evil.” – John Hagee
“All that is necessary for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
“The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that’s also a hypocrite!” – Tennessee Williams
“When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” – Malala Yousafzai
“Nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer; nothing more difficult than understanding him.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
“To confront a person with his own shadow is to show him his own light.” – Carl Jung
“The world is full of monsters with friendly faces.” – Richelle E. Goodrich
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda (Star Wars)
“The devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.” – Charles Baudelaire
“Sometimes evil comes in an unassuming package.” – Tess Gerritsen
“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” – Proverb
“Evil people will always find a way to rise to the top, like cream in milk.” – J.D. Robb
“Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” – John Stuart Mill
“Evil is not something superhuman, it’s something less than human.” – Agatha Christie
Last Words
Reflecting on these quotes from some of history’s most notorious figures, we can see how words have the power to shape and influence minds. These quotes not only shed light on the dark thoughts of these individuals but also serve as a reminder of the importance of using words wisely.
By examining these quotes, we can better understand the motives and thoughts behind the actions of these evil people. It’s crucial to learn from history and recognize the impact that words can have. This awareness can help guide us to choose words that bring about positive change and understanding.
