--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And it is because you don't know the end…" description: "\"“And it is because you don't know the end and purpose of things that you think the wicked and the criminal have power and happiness.”\" — Boethius" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/851/boethius-11247_evil_and-it-is-because-you-don-t-know-the-end_1740181.png" --- # And it is because you don't know the end and purpose of… ![“And it is because you don't know the end and purpose of things that you think the wicked and the criminal have power and happiness.” quote by Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/851/boethius-11247_evil_and-it-is-because-you-don-t-know-the-end_1740181.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/851/boethius-11247_evil_and-it-is-because-you-don-t-know-the-end_1740181.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/851/boethius-11247_evil_and-it-is-because-you-don-t-know-the-end_1740181.png) > ““And it is because you don't know the end and purpose of things that you think the wicked and the criminal have power and happiness.”” [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ignorance of ultimate purpose leads to misattributing power and happiness to immoral forces. **In simple terms:** Not knowing the end makes us think bad people are happy. Key Takeaway Seek understanding of purpose. Themes philosophy ethics wisdom Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crises - political discourse - media consumption Key Concepts teleology moral perception Questions to Reflect On - What purpose guides your actions? - Do you see power in virtue? A Different Perspective It assumes a single purpose for all, which may be contested. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Criminal Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminal-power-1512050/) [End Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-purpose-304618/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Things Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-think-252935/) [Think Wicked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-wicked-1512049/) [Wicked Criminal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked-criminal-1512048/) ## Related quotes > [We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not...What we call the process God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/we-have-an-idea-that-god-is-leading-us-to-a-particular-end-a-desired/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [“We’re set in motion and then we spend our lives maintaining that motion, but to what end? For what purpose?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-ryan/we-re-set-in-motion-and-then-we-spend-our-lives-maintaining-that/) [Carrie Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-ryan/) > [The anti-evolution forces have been searching for a new strategy that would accomplish the same end. That purpose is, if not to get evolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-r-miller/the-anti-evolution-forces-have-been-searching-for-a-new-strategy-that/) [Kenneth R. 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For no one except the greatest of fools would hate good men.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/among-wise-men-there-is-no-place-at-all-left-for-hatred-for-no-one/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [At the beginning of my TV and movie stuff, I would be really critical of myself, but I've gotten better and better. There's always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mireille-enos/at-the-beginning-of-my-tv-and-movie-stuff-i-would-be-really-critical/) [Mireille Enos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mireille-enos/) > [“want to spoil things. I think she”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-hughes/want-to-spoil-things-i-think-she/) [Kathryn Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-hughes/) > [There are things that you think about in your life that you're proud of, some things that you're not proud of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-kelly/there-are-things-that-you-think-about-in-your-life-that-you-re-proud/) [Jim Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-kelly/) ## More by Boethius > [“Among wise men there is no place at all left for hatred. For no one except the greatest of fools would hate good men.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/among-wise-men-there-is-no-place-at-all-left-for-hatred-for-no-one/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [“Has the world become so topsy-turvy that a living creature, whom the gift of reason makes divine, believes that his glory lies solely in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/has-the-world-become-so-topsy-turvy-that-a-living-creature-whom-the/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [All fortune is good fortune; for it either rewards, disciplines, amends, or punishes, and so is either useful or just.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/all-fortune-is-good-fortune-for-it-either-rewards-disciplines-amends/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [The completely simultaneous and perfect possession of unlimited life at a single moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/the-completely-simultaneous-and-perfect-possession-of-unlimited-life/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [Nunc fluens facit tempus,nunc stans facit aeternitatum.(The now that passes produces time, the now that remains produces eternity.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/nunc-fluens-facit-tempus-nunc-stans-facit-aeternitatum-the-now-that/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [I who once wrote songs with keen delight am now by sorrow driven to take up melancholy measures. 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All luck is good luck to the man who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/so-nothing-is-ever-good-or-bad-unless-you-think-it-so-and-vice-versa/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) > [“The greatest misery in adverse fortune is once to have been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius/the-greatest-misery-in-adverse-fortune-is-once-to-have-been-happy/) [Boethius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) [Explore all 60 Boethius quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boethius/) ## More Evil quotes > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry, if not the greatest, is one of the greatest moral and political evils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/i-do-conscientiously-and-sincerely-believe-that-the-order-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [The Republicans do not look on the Democrats as the evil empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/the-republicans-do-not-look-on-the-democrats-as-the-evil-empire/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-done-out-of-love-always-takes-place-beyond-good-and-evil/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ Evil cannot be "treated" -- nor should it be. Evil has to \[be\] confronted and destroyed and it matters not why the evil is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/evil-cannot-be-treated-nor-should-it-be-evil-has-to-be-confronted-and/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [The evil which does me no harm is like the good which in no wise avails me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-evil-which-does-me-no-harm-is-like-the-good-which-in-no-wise/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Attack the evil that is within yourself, rather than attacking the evil that is in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/attack-the-evil-that-is-within-yourself-rather-than-attacking-the/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“Water is so friendly when you have it on your palms, but so evil when they have you on theirs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/water-is-so-friendly-when-you-have-it-on-your-palms-but-so-evil-when/) [M.F. 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