"What is evil? It is an extremely complex phenomenon. Behind cruelty are mostly childhood traumas - but there is of course more behind it, a combination of character, physical and mental make-up, bad examples. Thousands of years of education have not been able to dissolve the tendency to cruelty in man. Animals, beasts are never cruel, with the exception of the one cat. Evil feeds on ingratitude; then on ignorance. The man who is prone to evil knows no "owes" and "demands" in the accounts of his life: he only demands. I do not believe that by kindness, forbearance, teaching, we can dissolve in such a man the impulses of wickedness and cruelty. He who is born evil - there are some - or who has been brought up by life's disappointments, experiences, cruel turns, not to patience and forgiveness, but to evil, is lost to all moral reasoning. It is best to get out of the way as much as possible. And one can also pity him, because most of the time a cruel, selfish and stupid mother or a wicked father is behind the dark background of such a person's childhood.
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Author
Márai SándorAll Translations
All Translations
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What is evil? It is an extremely complex phenomenon. Behind cruelty are mostly childhood traumas - but there is of course more behind it, a combination of character, physical and mental make-up, bad examples. Thousands of years of education have not been able to dissolve the tendency to cruelty in man. Animals, beasts are never cruel, with the exception of the one cat. Evil feeds on ingratitude; then on ignorance. The man who is prone to evil knows no "owes" and "demands" in the accounts of his life: he only demands. I do not believe that by kindness, forbearance, teaching, we can dissolve in such a man the impulses of wickedness and cruelty. He who is born evil - there are some - or who has been brought up by life's disappointments, experiences, cruel turns, not to patience and forgiveness, but to evil, is lost to all moral reasoning. It is best to get out of the way as much as possible. And one can also pity him, because most of the time a cruel, selfish and stupid mother or a wicked father is behind the dark background of such a person's childhood.
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Mi a gonoszság? Rendkívül összetett tünemény. A kegyetlenség mögött legtöbbször gyermekkori sérülések vannak – de van mögötte természetesen más is, jellem, testi és lelki alkat összjátéka, rossz példák. Évezredek műveltsége nem tudta az emberben feloldani a kegyetlenségre való hajlamot. Az állatok, a fenevadak soha nem kegyetlenek, az egyetlen macska kivételével. Kielégületlenségből táplálkozik a gonoszság; aztán műveletlenségből. A gonoszságra hajlamos ember a maga életének könyvelésében nem ismer „tartozik" és „követel" rovatot: ő csak követel. Nem hiszem, hogy jósággal, engedékenységgel, tanítással feloldhatjuk az ilyen emberben a gonoszság és kegyetlenség indulatait. Aki gonosznak született – akad ilyen is –, vagy akit az élet csalódásai, tapasztalatai, kegyetlen fordulatai nem türelemre és megbocsátásra, hanem gonoszságra neveltek, elveszett mindenfajta erkölcsi érvelés számára. Legokosabb kitérni útjából, amennyire lehet. S lehet sajnálni is, mert legtöbbször egy kegyetlen, önző és buta anya vagy gonosz apa áll az ilyen ember gyermekkorának sötét hátterében.
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Ce este răul? Este un fenomen extrem de complex. În spatele cruzimii se află, de cele mai multe ori, traumele din copilărie - dar, bineînțeles, există mai mult decât atât, o combinație de caracter, constituție fizică și mentală, exemple proaste. Mii de ani de educație nu au reușit să dizolve în om tendința spre cruzime. Animalele, fiarele nu sunt niciodată crude, cu excepția unei singure pisici. Răul se hrănește din ingratitudine; apoi din ignoranță. Omul predispus la răutate nu cunoaște "datorii" și "cereri" în socotelile vieții sale: el doar cere. Nu cred că prin bunătate, îngăduință, învățătură, putem dizolva într-un astfel de om impulsurile răutății și cruzimii. Cel care se naște rău - sunt unii - sau care a fost educat de dezamăgirile vieții, de experiențe, de turnuri crude, nu către răbdare și iertare, ci către rău, este pierdut pentru orice raționament moral. Cel mai bine este să te dai din calea lor cât mai mult posibil. Și se poate, de asemenea, să-l compătimim, pentru că de cele mai multe ori o mamă crudă, egoistă și proastă sau un tată rău se află în spatele fundalului întunecat al copilăriei unei astfel de persoane.
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