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comment by _refugee_
_refugee_  ·  3703 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Secret Life of W.H. Auden

    “Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring.”

From the article, although attributed to Simone Weil. kleinbl00 this quote made me think of you.





kleinbl00  ·  3703 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Evil is unspectacular and always human,

    And shares our bed and eats at our own table,

    And we are introduced to Goodness every day.

    Even in drawing-rooms among a crowd of faults;

    he has a name like Billy and is almost perfect

    But wears a stammer like decoration:

    And every time they meet the same thing has to happen;

    It is the Evil that is helpless like a lover

    And has to pick a quarrel and succeeds,

    And both are openly destroyed before our eyes.

Some of that might make the book. The full Weil quote:

    “Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.”
user-inactivated  ·  3703 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I loved that quote! It's a generalization but I like it. Plus I'm rereading Heart of Darkness right now.