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“There is no denying that there is evil in this world but the light will always conquer the darkness.”
― Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.�� Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.”
― Vincent van Gogh

“Trust is a strange bedfellow.”
― March Lions, The Last Sunset

“The fates weren't dangerous because they were evil; the fates were dangerous because they couldn't tell the difference between evil and good.”
― Stephanie Garber, Once Upon a Broken Heart

“Hurricanes couldn’t remove you from my mind. You’re my world and I’m incapable of not loving you.”
― Billie-Jo Williams

“Helen dared to look up without being invited to do so. “I cannot
thank you enough for your kindness, Lady Consort.��
“Kindness had nothing to do with it. You have skills and training I
need just now, and I intend to use you shamelessly, and expose you to
greater danger.��
“Get in line, Lady Consort,�� Helen replied. “Danger-filled usury
seems to be a holiday pastime in this city.��
The Consort stopped pretending to do her needlework. “I could
have you whipped for such insolence, girl.��
“Before or after you use me.”
― Candace L. Talmadge, Stoneslayer: Book One Scandal

“No matter how hard Evil tries, it can never quite match up to the power of Good, because Evil is ultimately self-destructive. Evil may set out to corrupt others, but in the process corrupts itself.”
― John Connolly, The Infernals

“Are the great spiritual teachings really advocating that we fight evil because we are on the side of light, the side of peace? Are they telling us to fight against that other 'undesirable' side, the bad and the black. That is a big question. If there is wisdom in the sacred teachings, there should not be any war. As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his action is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation.”
― Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

“Her body faded away so far, she almost lost her connection to it. Utter
blackness enveloped her, shutting off all warmth. All light. All love. All
support. All hope. She was pinned, alone, naked, and freezing before a
beast so terrifying she struggled to avert her gaze but could not.
Horns arose from the top of what had to be a head. Fangs protruded
obscenely from a frowning hole that must have been a mouth.
Unsheathed claws threatened instant evisceration. Horrifying eyes.
Two cesspits of black fury in which red flames churned like burning
blood. They bore down on Helen, intensifying the pressure on her to
the point of agony.
Inside her head a message played over and over. You are helpless.
Helen’s fragmented thoughts spun wildly. What to do? How to stop
this nightmare?
The wretched voice roared again, like nails clashing against slate.
“Give me the stone! Now!”
― Candace L. Talmadge, Stoneslayer: Book One Scandal

“Night vision. Unclip your bows. Ready. Fly.”��”
― Andri E. Elia, Yildun: Worldmaker of Yand

“As a place to start, let us use a model to explain precisely
what this ‘Great Year�� actually is. The year 2012 is the year
that marked the end of a 26,000-year cycle, ending in a
great galactic alignment that was calculated on the Mayan
calendar and results in the calendar ending on the winter
solstice (December 21st) of 2012. But what exactly is this
galactic alignment?”
― Jody Summers, The Mayan Legacy

“When you invest in yourself, you have instant credibility with your biggest critic�� YOU!  As soon as you allow doubt to creep in, you will lose. ”
― C. Toni Graham, Crossroads and the Dominion of Four

“And I thought to myself, Hell and blast you all, if all you bastards are on the side of Good then I'm glad I belong to the other shop.”
― Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange

“Light can devour the darkness but darkness cannot consume the light.”
― Ken Poirot

“If I could, Sister James, I would certainly choose to live in innocence. But innocence can only be wisdom in a world without evil. Situations arise and we are confronted with wrongdoing and the need to act.”
― John Patrick Shanley, Doubt, a Parable

“Good loses. Good always loses because good has to play by the rules. Evil doesn't.”
― Henry Mills 'Once Upon a Time'

“This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small,
large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force;
never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
― Winston Churchill

“All evil and good is petty before Nature. Personally, we take comfort from this, that there is a universe to admire that cannot be twisted to villainy or good, but which simply is.”
― Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep

“The things I’ve seen," he continues easily, "have shown me that the only constant is change. Too much power in one place is a fool’s errand. Eventually, and inevitably, no matter how good the intentions, or how long the life, power always wins out, and everyone suffers for it. The only true path of rational existence is balance; a constant re-assessment of the burdens of power, if you will.”
― Bill Blais, No Good Deed

“A good man? A man who successfully conceals his evil actions”
― Bangambiki Habyarimana, The Great Pearl of Wisdom

“He was aware that darkness could take root in pristine gardens, and even good men could fall to shadow.”
― Ella Rose Carlos, A Long Lost Fantasy

“So it is time for you to face it and accept it. I am ready for this battle, Cassandra. The question is: will you be?”
― Marie Montine, Mourning Grey: Part Two

“The fiend gives the more friendly counsel.”
― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

“No one is only good or only bad. We have a bit of both inside of us all.”
― Erica Crouch, Ignite

“I believe people are more good than bad. When Obama said this he was only repeating what many have said before. Another version: I believe there are more good people in the world than bad people. What does not follow, though, is that, thanks to the numbers, the good will prevail. What cannot be left out of account is that, under certain circumstances, the bad can get the good to act badly, and furthermore, in order to achieve certain goals--victory in wartime, for example--getting the good to act badly rises to the level of a necessity.”
― Sigrid Nunez, The Vulnerables

“Be wary, for not all is as it seems.
It is far worse.”
― Lanne Garrett, The Cost of Curses: A Cursed Magic Novel

“First of all, you have heard me talk of Logres. It was the old name for this country, thousands of years ago; in the old days when the struggle between good and evil was more bitter and open than it is now. That struggle goes on all round us all the time, like two armies fighting. And sometimes one of them seems to be winning and sometimes the other, but neither has ever triumphed altogether. Nor ever will," he added softly to himself, "for there is something of each in every man.”
― Susan Cooper, Over Sea, Under Stone

“Because Valentin Gjertsen is nothing special, except that he is especially evil. He's not a complete fool, but neither is he particularly intelligent. He hasn't achieved anything remarkable. If you want to build, you must have the ability to see. Vision. Demolition, however, requires no ability; it's mere blindness.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Thirst

“He will soon be caught, but until then, of course, he is a danger to anyone who encounters him and should be avoided. Just as one should beware of a dog that is foaming at the mouth. However, we know that a rabid dog is actually dying, despite its malice.”
― Jo Nesbø, The Thirst

“The Devil's Chapel by Stewart Stafford

Spires writhing in audacity's sky,
Laced masonry's Faustian high,
The Devil's Chapel invites by lie,
Embalmed, a cracked stone altar dry.

The golden Madonna rises above all,
Lucifer's War, in stained glass, tall,
In horned shadow, the angelic fall,
Dark kingdom formed of a lightning ball.

Bartholomew flayed by sadistic chagrin,
Bones laid bare, devotion anchored within,
Skin in the game took centuries to win,
Gargoyles leer in the paying tourist din.

Behind the veil of confession wood,
The all-seeing eye drips with blood,
Trickster's snare in nightmare's flood,
A gift shop trades where sacrifice stood.

Pungent echoes in incense crawl,
Catacombs beckon entombed gall,
To witness ornate veneration's pall,
Silent to a martyr's last breath call.

Croziers rest in chilled silver's display,
As pink-veined marble taints today.

© 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford