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Lesser Evil Quotes

Browse 69 quotes about Lesser Evil.

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Lesser Evil Quotes

“I danced in the flames and pranced on the shames of those whose names I could not reveal. I have been told, exhaustingly by a genus of psychiatry, that to forget allegedly means to heal but if only such a thought became real. To die when compared to living has, at times, seemed like the lesser evil.”

DepressionTraumaPsychologicalSuicidal ThoughtsLesser EvilPsychological TraumaPost Traumatic StressScars Of The PastUnforgettable MemoriesHard To Bear
Book:Night Tide Musings
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“A man is an angel that has become deranged, Joe Fernwright thought. Once they – all of them – had been genuine angels, and at that time they had had a choice between good and evil, so it was easy, easy being an angel. And then something happened. Something went wrong or broke down or failed. And they had become faced with the necessity of choosing not good or evil but the lesser of two evils, and so that had unhinged them and now each was a man.”

ManGood And EvilAngelsLesser Evil
Book:Galactic Pot-Healer
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“Only the liberals and soft-leftists persist in agonizing as they give their (actually unqualified) loyalty, in advance, to people who publicly spit on them. I don’t know whether the masochist or the sadist commits the greater evil, but I do know that you can’t have one without the other.”

PoliticsProgressiveLeftismLesser Evil
Book:The Quotable Hitchens from Alcohol to Zionism: The Very Best of Christopher Hitchens
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“The next little thing about this vote-for-the-lesser-evil trick, of course—and this is no secret to anyone anymore—is that it drives all the “serious” candidates toward what is commonly referred to as the “moderate center,” even if these serious candidates aren’t, in fact, moderate or centrist in any meaningful sense and the so-called center moves further to the right with each election cycle. For nearly two decades now this process has been steadily advancing on the Democratic side, as liberals are trained to accept the idea that the national majority will never accept a true labor party, or any candidate perceived as “soft” on defense.”

PoliticsLesser EvilCentrist
Author:Matt Taibbi
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“Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect. They know that basic human problems can have no final solutions, that our freedom, justice, equality, etc. are far from absolute, and that the good life is compounded of half measures, compromises, lesser evils, and gropings toward the perfect. The rejection of approximations and the insistence on absolutes are the manifestation of a nihilism that loathes freedom, tolerance, and equity.”

KnowsMenHumansProblemLife IsDiesFightingEvilJusticePerfectHalfWillingSolutionsAbsolutesFinalsAffairToleranceCompromiseManifestationRejectionEtcGood LifeImperfectionInherentEquityNihilismNot PerfectFree ManLoatheInsistenceApproximationHuman ProblemsLesser EvilJustice EqualityHalf Measures
Author:Eric Hoffer
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“It would be a healthy exercise for every politician to look in the mirror every morning and remind himself that he holds office only because, in a two-man race against another mediocrity, a modest majority of those half-informed people who imagined that their votes mattered reckoned that he was the lesser evil. And they weren't too sure about that.”

PeopleMenLooksTwoWould BeEvilRaceHalfMorningPoliticianExerciseHealthyOfficeVoteMirrorsMajorityMediocrityEvery MorningModestLesser Evil
Author:Joseph Sobran
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“Take the case of just actions; just punishments and chastisements do indeed spring from a good principle, but they are good only because we cannot do without them - it would be better that neither individuals nor states should need anything of the sort - but actions which aim at honor and advantage are absolutely the best. The conditional action is only the choice of a lesser evil; whereas these are the foundation and creation of good. A good man may make the best even of poverty and disease, and the other ills of life.”

MenNeedsShouldMayStatesWould BeActionChoicesEvilIndividualPrinciplesPovertyCasesCreationHonorDiseaseSpringAdvantageAimFoundationPunishmentGood ManGood LifeChastisementConditionalLesser Evil
Book:Complete Works of Aristotle, Volume 2: The Revised Oxford Translation
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“Richard Nixon was not the lesser evil, he was the greater evil, but in his administration the war was finally brought to an end, because he had to deal with the power of the anti-war movement as well as the power of the Vietnamese movement. I will vote, but always with a caution that voting is not crucial, and organizing is the important thing.”

WellsImportantWarEndsEvilDealsGreaterMovementVoteImportant ThingsAdministrationVotingCrucialAnti WarCautionVietnameseLesser EvilAnti War Movement
Author:Howard Zinn
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“The answer to the problem of evil does not lie in trying to establish its point of origin, for that is simply not revealed to us. Rather, in the moment of the cross, it becomes clear that evil is utterly subverted for good.... If God can take the greatest of evils and turn them for the greatest of goods, then how much more can he take the lesser evils which litter human history, from individual tragedies to international disasters, and turn them to his good purpose as well.”

IfsTryingHumansWellsDoeMomentsProblemLyingPurposeTurnsEvilIndividualAnswersClearCrossesTragedyInternationalDisasterGoodsHuman HistoryLesser EvilProblem Of Evil
Author:Carl R Trueman
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“The two-party system is a bad joke on the American people; when it comes to Republicans and Democrats remember they are two sides of the same coin. Voting for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil and not an answer to our problems. A vote for a Republican or a Democrat will not fix anything and is a wasted vote.”

PeopleStillsTwoProblemRememberEvilSidesAnswersPartyRepublicanJokesVoteDemocratVotingCoinsTwo SidesLesser EvilTwo EvilsTwo Party SystemLesser Of Two EvilsBad Jokes
Author:Aaron Russo
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“The States should be watchful to note every material usurpation on their rights; to denounce them as they occur in the most peremptory terms; to protest against them as wrongs to which our present submission shall be considered, not as acknowledgments or precedents of rights, but as a temporary yielding to the lesser evil, until their accumulation shall overweigh that of separation.”

ShouldStatesEvilTermRightsMaterialsNotesSeparationProtestTemporarySubmissionAccumulationPrecedentAcknowledgmentLesser EvilUsurpation
Book:Memoirs, Correspondence, and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Late President of the United States
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“What does the Right have to show for eight years of a Republican presidency? I supported George W. Bush in 2000 because I thought he had a conservative bone in his body somewhere. I supported him in 2004 because I thought him the lesser of two evils. At this point, I wouldn't let the fool park his car in my driveway. Bruce Bartlett was right, every damn word.”

YearsDoeTwoShowsBodyEvilCarFoolRepublicanConservativeEightBonesDamnParksPresidencyLesser EvilDrivewayTwo EvilsLesser Of Two Evils
Author:John Derbyshire
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“I would never say they look exactly the same, but what I would say is that the differences are not enough to save your job, to save your life, or to save the planet. And what we have right now is a race to the bottom, between the greater and lesser evil. [Donald] Trump is a very dangerous and despicable demagogue. However, you know, policy for policy, Hillary's [Clinton] are also extremely dangerous.”

KnowsLooksEnoughJobsEvilDifferencesRaceGreaterDangerousPolicyPlanetsTrumpRight NowClintonBottomDespicableLesser EvilSave The Planet
Author:Jill Stein
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“I think we are only going to get it by standing up and voting our values, understanding that the lesser evil doesn't solve the problem. It just prolongs the problem and it paves the way to the greater evil. That the policies of the Clintons, the Wall Street deregulation and NAFTA, created the economic misery that becomes very fertile territory for demagogues like Donald Trump.”

ThinkingWayProblemValuesEvilUnderstandingGreaterEconomicStreetsPolicyWallTrumpStandingMiseryClintonSolveVotingTerritoryFertileLesser EvilDeregulationNafta
Author:Jill Stein
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“Neoliberalism, arguably, sets the course for this kind for this kind of neo-extremism, this right-wing extremism that we are facing. The only way we solve that crisis, the rise of the right-wing extreme, is by truly progressive policies that address this crisis of economic security. That will not come from the lesser evil.”

WayKindCoursesEvilEconomicSecurityPolicyCrisisWingsExtremesSolveAddressesProgressiveExtremismRight WingNeoliberalismLesser EvilEconomic Security
Author:Jill Stein
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“You go into the voting booths and you can rank your choices. So your first choice is an underdog that might not win, you know, that your choice number two, which might be your lesser evil, your safety choice, your vote is automatically reassigned from your first choice to your second choice if your first choice losses and there's not a majority winner. So it essentially eliminates, splitting it, eliminates having to vote your fear instead of your values.”

IfsKnowsFirstsTwoMightValuesChoicesEvilWinningLossNumbersVoteSafetyMajorityWinnerVotingUnderdogSplittingLesser EvilSecond Choice
Author:Jill Stein
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“I say I'm the only serious comedian in the presidential race. And I'd like to take this opportunity to ask both Romney and Obama to debate me. Because I think that both of those guys - I think that the American people are being given a false choice, because the choice between the lesser of two evils is a false choice.”

PeopleThinkingTwoGuyChoicesEvilAsksOpportunityGivenRaceSeriousDebateComedianPresidentialRomneyLesser EvilTwo EvilsLesser Of Two Evils
Author:Roseanne Barr
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“The lack of money is the root of all evil.”

HumorFunnyEvilWealthMoneyHumorousBibleRootsFinancialRichesGood And EvilSarcasticBiblicalWickednessPenniesRich And PoorSaving MoneyFunny MoneyCore ValuesLove Of MoneySpending MoneyRich PoorRich MoneyWise MoneyMisusedGood Against EvilInspirational MoneyScornedLesser EvilMoney TalksBest MoneyValue Of MoneyOld MoneyMoney And HappinessGreatest WealthMoney Is The Root Of All EvilMisquotingLove And MoneyBeing BrokeCan Money Buy HappinessCovetingSuccess And MoneyEconomic ValueSuccess MoneyAvarice GreedMoney Doesn't Buy HappinessSmart MoneyTalking About MoneyGreat MoneyI Love MoneyNature Of EvilMoral FailureMoney Is EvilBoiler RoomHell Hath No FuryEvil LoveEvil Within
Book:The Devil's Race-track: Mark Twain's Great Dark Writings : the Best from Which was the Dream? and Fables of Man
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“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

ThinkingMenInspirationalWisdomEvilPeaceFreedomLibertyRightsSocietyMilitaryWise WordsGoodnessHumorousBraverySocial JusticeInjusticeWittyTyrannyTriumphGood And EvilGood ManSilence IsIdlenessBadassDoing NothingFreedom And LibertyInactionCriminal MindFreedom LibertyProperty RightsCivil DisobedienceTriumphantPeace And JusticeEvil PeopleHuman TraffickingRights And FreedomsEvil ManTraffickingBystandersEvil ThingsEternal VigilanceGood Against EvilNecessary EvilLiberty And JusticeMind OpeningLesser EvilWicked ManTwo EvilsPrice Of FreedomGood EvilLiberty And EqualityEvil WomenMoney Is The Root Of All EvilNecessary ThingsLesser Of Two EvilsRemaining SilentNature Of EvilSocial EvilsEvil GovernmentGoodness In The WorldEvil And SufferingTriumph Over EvilGood WarriorOvercoming Evil
Author:Edmund Burke
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