I don't believe in devils. Indifference and misunderstandings can create evil situations. Most of the time, people who appear to be evil are really victims of evil deeds.
Interpretation
Evil often arises from indifference and misunderstanding, rather than from a malicious intent.
In this quote, Max Von Sydow suggests that the concept of evil is often misunderstood; rather than being inherent in individuals, it frequently stems from societal indifference and a lack of understanding. People's actions may appear evil, but they can often be victims of unfortunate circumstances themselves, highlighting the importance of empathy and deeper awareness in human interactions.
In practice
During a lecture on ethics, this quote can be used to illustrate the complex nature of human behavior.
Film acting, if you don't play the lead, you come, and you do your scenes in a few days, and you act with a couple of colleagues. All the rest of the actors you never see, and you don't even meet many of them. And you don't know what will happen with what you've done. Maybe it will be in the film, maybe it will not.
What is important, I think, is to reach as many people as you can and do it as well as you can. Reach them and inspire them or amuse them, or maybe in some odd moments help them to discover something they hadn't thought of before.
The more I had to act like a saint, the more I felt like being a sinner.
It's not a matter of learning lines. It's a matter of getting into the ideas and the will of the person. It's a matter of, 'What does he want to do? What does he want to achieve?'
To give an accurate description of what has never occurred is not merely the proper occupation of the historian, but the inalienable privilege of any man of parts and culture.
Realization is not knowledge about the universe, but the living experience of the nature of the universe. Until we have such living experience, we remain dependent on examples, and subject to their limits.
Life is not at all what you might think it to be_x000D_ _x000D_ A simple tale where each thing has its history_x000D_ _x000D_ It's much more than its scuffle and anything goes_x000D_ _x000D_ Both evil and good, subject to the same laws.
One should never put on one's best trousers to go out to fight for freedom.
Mercy is what moves us toward God, while justice makes us tremble in his sight.
Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.
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