The bad man desires arbitrary power. What moves the evil man is the love of injustice.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that bad individuals seek power for its own sake, driven by a desire for injustice.
John Rawls emphasizes the motivations behind negative human behavior in this quote. He suggests that those who are considered 'bad' not only seek power arbitrarily but are also fueled by a deep-seated admiration for injustice, indicating a moral failing that transcends mere ambition. This serves as a reflection on the darker aspects of human nature and the ethical implications of power dynamics in society.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about political corruption and ethics in leadership.
The perspective of eternity is not a perspective from a certain place beyond the world, nor the point of view of a transcendent being; rather it is a certain form of thought and feeling that rational persons can adopt within the world ... Purity of heart, if one could attain it, would be to see clearly and to act with grace and self-command from this point of view.
Justice is the first virtue of social institutions.
The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.
The naturally advantaged are not to gain merely because they are more gifted, but only to cover the costs of training and education and for using their endowments in ways that help the less fortunate as well.
The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position. These are simply natural facts. What is just and unjust is the way that institutions deal with these facts.
Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic.
It is not our job to apply laws that have not yet been written.
The last thing to collapse is the surface.
It's the attitude about life, man. Looking at the light instead of the dark. Looking at love instead of fear.
Tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions (like church attendance and giving) than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.
Free will is "corrupted nature's deformed darling, the Pallas or beloved self-conception of darkened minds"
Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.
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