--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is this of good in real evils; they…" description: "\"There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that were imaginary.\" — Charles Caleb Colton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg" --- # There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us… ![“There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that were imaginary.” quote by Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg) > “There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that were imaginary.” [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that some evils, while harmful, can protect us from trivial tyrannies of imagined fears. **In simple terms:** Evil can shield us from petty imagined despots. Key Takeaway Recognize complex role of adversity. Themes evil protection imagination Mood thoughtful philosophical Type ethical reflective When to use this quote - moral dilemmas - personal crises - historical analysis Key Concepts paradox psychology Questions to Reflect On - When is evil justified? - How do we differentiate real from imagined threats? A Different Perspective May rationalize harmful actions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despotism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Wickedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wickedness/) ## Related quotes > [Real evils can be either cured or endured; it is only imaginary evils that make people anxiety-ridden for a lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/real-evils-can-be-either-cured-or-endured-it-is-only-imaginary-evils/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [“The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-real-evils-indeed-of-emma-s-situation-were-the-power-of-having/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [There are in life real evils enough, and it is folly to afflict ourselves with imaginary ones; it is time enough when the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin/there-are-in-life-real-evils-enough-and-it-is-folly-to-afflict/) [Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin/) > [We must perpetually try to distinguish, however closely they get entwined by the subtle nature of the facts and by the secret importunity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/we-must-perpetually-try-to-distinguish-however-closely-they-get/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Evils in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travelers upon their road; they both appear great at a distance, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/evils-in-the-journey-of-life-are-like-the-hills-which-alarm-travelers/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Human foresight often leaves its proudest possessor only a choice of evils.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/human-foresight-often-leaves-its-proudest-possessor-only-a-choice-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Life often presents us with a choice of evils, rather than of goods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/life-often-presents-us-with-a-choice-of-evils-rather-than-of-goods/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Attempts at reform, when they fail, strengthen despotism, as he that struggles tightens those cords he does not succeed in breaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/attempts-at-reform-when-they-fail-strengthen-despotism-as-he-that/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Despotism can no more exist in a nation until the liberty of the press be destroyed than the night can happen before the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/despotism-can-no-more-exist-in-a-nation-until-the-liberty-of-the/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Of your philosophy you makeno use If you give place to accidental evils.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/of-your-philosophy-you-makeno-use-if-you-give-place-to-accidental/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are evils that have the ability to survive identification and go on for ever... money, for instance, or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-are-evils-that-have-the-ability-to-survive-identification-and/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Imaginary evils are incurable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/imaginary-evils-are-incurable/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) > [Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/of-all-evils-of-war-the-greatest-is-the-purely-spiritual-evil-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [In the history of man it has been very generally the case that when evils have grown insufferable they have touched the point of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-hubbel-chapin/in-the-history-of-man-it-has-been-very-generally-the-case-that-when/) [Edwin Hubbel Chapin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-hubbel-chapin/) > [The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-so-called-evils-are-evils-only-in-relation-to-a-certain-thing-and/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Explore all 778 Charles Caleb Colton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More Despotism quotes > [Generally, I like all islands. There, it is easier to rule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/generally-i-like-all-islands-there-it-is-easier-to-rule/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [“The central government was a despotism tempered by military rebellion and assassination and replacement of one scurvy lot of ruling dynasts by another. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/the-central-government-was-a-despotism-tempered-by-military-rebellion/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/when-the-savages-of-louisiana-wish-to-have-fruit-they-cut-the-tree-at/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [Republican despotism is more fertile in acts of tyranny, because everyone has a hand in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/republican-despotism-is-more-fertile-in-acts-of-tyranny-because/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Neither should men study war with a view to the enslavement of those who do not deserve to be enslaved; but first of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/neither-should-men-study-war-with-a-view-to-the-enslavement-of-those/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [If Despotism failed only for want of a capable benevolent despot, what chance has Democracy, which requires a whole population of capable voters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/if-despotism-failed-only-for-want-of-a-capable-benevolent-despot-what/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“No longer enslaved or made dependent by force of law, the great majority are so by force of poverty; they are still chained to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/no-longer-enslaved-or-made-dependent-by-force-of-law-the-great/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [“All despotism is bad; but the worst is that which works with the machinery of freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junius/all-despotism-is-bad-but-the-worst-is-that-which-works-with-the/) [Junius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junius/) > [But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-when-a-long-train-of-abuses-and-usurpations-pursuing-invariably/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Despotism often presents itself as the repairer of all the ills suffered, the support of just rights, defender of the oppressed, and founder of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-often-presents-itself-as-the-repairer-of-all-the-ills/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [A court which yields to the popular will thereby licenses itself to practice despotism, for there can be no assurance that it will not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/a-court-which-yields-to-the-popular-will-thereby-licenses-itself-to/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/despotism-may-govern-without-faith-but-liberty-cannot/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) [Browse all 327 Despotism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despotism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that were imaginary.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Caleb Colton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they-deliver-us-while-they-last/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despotism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they-deliver-us-while-they-last/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6a1/charles-caleb-colton-270_despotism_there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they_2669539.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that…” — Charles Caleb Colton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Caleb Colton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is this of good in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they-deliver-us-while-they-last/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/there-is-this-of-good-in-real-evils-they-deliver-us-while-they-last/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```