Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux Quotes

You cannot cure a lesser evil by a greater evil.

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.

When you choose the lesser of two evils, always remember that it is still an evil.

The devil always has the better tunes!

It may be necessary temporarily to accept a lesser evil, but one must never label a necessary evil as good.

Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.

Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.

Evil is wrought by want of thought

'Tis very strange Men should be so fond of being thought wickeder than they are.

The choice before human beings, is not, as a rule , between good and evil but between two evils. You can let the Nazis rule the world : that is evil; or you can overthrow them by war , which is also evil. There is no other choice before you, and whichever you choose you will not come out with clean hands.

About the nature of human beings. I discovered that confronted by temptation, we will always fall. Given the right circumstances, every human being on this earth would be willing to commit evil.

In the face of evil, detachment is a dubious virtue.

In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.

There are times when the end justifies the means. But when you build an argument based on a whole series of such times, you may find that you've constructed an entire philosophy of evil." --Luke Skywalker

I consider calmly the question of how much evil I should need to kill off my finer feelings.

The doing evil to avoid an evil cannot be good.

The apprehension of the good Gives but the greater feeling to the worse.

Evil can do anything, for a price.

Degrees do not matter... one does not bargain about inches of evil.

The lesser evil is also evil.

Frustration filled his features. "Rose I've done a lot of bad things, most of which I can never fix or find redemption for. My only choice now, if I want to reclaim my life, is to go forward, stopping evil and doing what's right. And what is NOT right is taking a woman from another man, a man I like and respect. I'll steal cars. I'll break into houses. But there are lines I WILL not cross, no matter what I—

If you choose the lesser of two evils, you are still choosing evil.

In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil

Cant is always rather nauseating; but before we condemn political hypocrisy, let us remember that it is the tribute paid by men of leather to men of God, and that the acting of the part of someone better than oneself may actually commit one to a course of behavior perceptibly less evil than what would be normal and natural in an avowed cynic.

Still it might be nice, once in a while, not to have to choose between evils. Just once, couldn't I choose the lesser good?