“But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.”

—  Rick Riordan, book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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American writer 1964

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Rick Riordan photo

“Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

“If a firearm is used by a criminal or psychopath with evil intentions, then it is a tool for evil. But if it is used for good (to defend life and property), then it is a tool for good. A firearm by itself has no sentience, no volition, no moral force, and no politics. The proper term for this is an adiaphorous object--something that is neither good nor evil. A firearm is simply a cleverly-designed construction of metal, wood, and plastic in the form of a precision tool.”

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“Life itself is neither a good nor an evil: life is where good or evil find a place, depending on how you make it for them.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

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“We’re neither good nor evil. We’re simply interested in things as they are.”

Lloyd Alexander The Chronicles of Prydain

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“Fundamentally, however, there is neither good nor evil; this is all based on human concepts. In the universe there exists neither good nor evil, because everything has been created in accordance with immutable laws. the divine principles are reflected in these laws, and only through knowing these laws will we be able to get close to the divine.”

Franz Bardon book Initiation Into Hermetics

Source: Initiation Into Hermetics (1956), p. 27.

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“It is on account neither of God's weakness nor ignorance that evil comes into the world, but rather it is due to the order of his wisdom and the greatness of his goodness that diverse grades of goodness occur in things, many of which would be lacking if no evil were permitted. Indeed, the good of patience would not exist without the evil of persecution; nor the good of preservation of life in a lion if not for the evil of the destruction of the animals on which it lives.”

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“Things are simply what they are, neither good nor bad. The potential for evil is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

Paul J. McAuley (1955) British writer

Source: Four Hundred Billion Stars (1988), Chapter 1 “Camp Zero” (p. 38)

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“Annihilation itself is no death to evil. Only good where evil was, is evil dead. An evil thing must live with its evil until it chooses to be good. That alone is the slaying of evil.”

George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish journalist, novelist

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