--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They understand not only evil, it seemed…" description: "\"“They understand not only evil, it seemed, but the extravagance of tricks with which evil presents itself as good.”\" — Donna Tartt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg" --- # They understand not only evil, it seemed, but the… ![“They understand not only evil, it seemed, but the extravagance of tricks with which evil presents itself as good.” quote by Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg) > ““They understand not only evil, it seemed, but the extravagance of tricks with which evil presents itself as good.”” [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Evil can disguise itself as goodness, using elaborate deceptions. **In simple terms:** Evil often looks good. Key Takeaway Question appearances critically. Themes morality deception evil Mood cautious thoughtful Type analytical critical When to use this quote - politics - business - personal relationships - media consumption Key Concepts philosophy ethics perception Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern true intent? - What signs reveal hidden motives? A Different Perspective Good appearances can be misleading; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Extravagance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-extravagance-3685497/) [Evil Presents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-presents-3685499/) [Extravagance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extravagance/) [Tricks Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tricks-evil-3685498/) [Understand Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-evil-363881/) ## Related quotes > [“Evil is not something instilled in a few unlucky persons by a malicious Lucifer. 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If I had a stomach, I'd be sick to it. You see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-patrick-brennan/it-s-an-unholy-crusade-against-good-people-everywhere-all-in-my-name/) [Sean Patrick Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-patrick-brennan/) > [“She was beginning to understand that evil is not absolute, and that good is often an occasion more than a condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-parker/she-was-beginning-to-understand-that-evil-is-not-absolute-and-that/) [Gilbert Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-parker/) > [My Christian Louboutins are also one of the secrets to my not-for-profit success. Here's why - and it's something that everyone who manages employees,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/my-christian-louboutins-are-also-one-of-the-secrets-to-my-not-for/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) > [Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to conceal their neediness from others. Consequently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/poverty-is-often-concealed-in-splendor-and-often-in-extravagance-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [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/) > [I would never want to model as my career, but fashion is my hobby. When you love what you're wearing, you feel good. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-valverde/i-would-never-want-to-model-as-my-career-but-fashion-is-my-hobby-when/) [Maria Valverde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-valverde/) > [“Heri kuwa maskini mwenye pesa nyingi kuliko tajiri mwenye mifuko iliyotoboka.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enock-maregesi/heri-kuwa-maskini-mwenye-pesa-nyingi-kuliko-tajiri-mwenye-mifuko/) [Enock Maregesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enock-maregesi/) > [It is not without trepidation that I have appropriated the codes of the Sublime and the Picturesque in my work. After all, serious photographers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pfahl/it-is-not-without-trepidation-that-i-have-appropriated-the-codes-of/) [John Pfahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pfahl/) > [We Japanese enjoy the small pleasures, not extravagance. I believe a man should have a simple lifestyle - even if he can afford more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaru-ibuka/we-japanese-enjoy-the-small-pleasures-not-extravagance-i-believe-a/) [Masaru Ibuka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaru-ibuka/) > [One defining symptom of decadence is a fondness for vast and nonsensical extravagance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-silverberg/one-defining-symptom-of-decadence-is-a-fondness-for-vast-and/) [Robert Silverberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-silverberg/) > [I adore extravagance but I abhor waste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-copland/i-adore-extravagance-but-i-abhor-waste/) [Aaron Copland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-copland/) ## More by Donna Tartt > [I hope we're all ready to leave the phenomenal world, and enter into the sublime?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/i-hope-we-re-all-ready-to-leave-the-phenomenal-world-and-enter-into/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-i-add-my-own-love-to-the-history-of-people-who-have-loved/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“The world won't come to me...so I must go to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-world-won-t-come-to-me-so-i-must-go-to-it/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [There's an expectation these days that novels - like any other consumer product - should be made on a production line, with one dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/there-s-an-expectation-these-days-that-novels-like-any-other-consumer/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“A month or two before, I would have been appalled at the idea of any murder at all. But that Sunday afternoon, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-month-or-two-before-i-would-have-been-appalled-at-the-idea-of-any/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Well, I think storytellers have always found murder a fascinating device.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/well-i-think-storytellers-have-always-found-murder-a-fascinating/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Always remember, the person we’re really working for is the person who’s restoring the piece a hundred years from now. He’s the one we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/always-remember-the-person-we-re-really-working-for-is-the-person-who/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“The silence between us was happy and strange, connected by the cord and the icy voices thinly echoing. “You don’t have to talk,” she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-silence-between-us-was-happy-and-strange-connected-by-the-cord/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from all the world, that no one and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-learn-as-a-child-that-one-is-a-being/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“You didn’t meet many people who moved freely through the world with such a vigorous contempt for it and at the same time such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/you-didn-t-meet-many-people-who-moved-freely-through-the-world-with/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“maybe that’s what’s waiting for us at the end of the journey, a majesty unimaginable until the very moment we find ourselves walking through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/maybe-that-s-what-s-waiting-for-us-at-the-end-of-the-journey-a/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“lights and moods and seasons was to see it a thousand different ways and to keep it shut in the dark—a thing made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/lights-and-moods-and-seasons-was-to-see-it-a-thousand-different-ways/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don’t get to choose our own hearts. We can’t make ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-great-sorrow-and-one-that-i-am-only-beginning-to-understand-we-don/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“Upon meeting Julian Morrow, one has the impression that he is a man of extraordinary sympathy and warmth. But what you call his 'Asiatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/upon-meeting-julian-morrow-one-has-the-impression-that-he-is-a-man-of/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Explore all 590 Donna Tartt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## 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. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [THE ART OF PEACE is not easy. It is a fight to the finish, the slaying of evil desires and all falsehood within. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morihei-ueshiba/the-art-of-peace-is-not-easy-it-is-a-fight-to-the-finish-the-slaying/) [Morihei Ueshiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morihei-ueshiba/) [Browse all 11,163 Evil quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They understand not only evil, it seemed, but the extravagance of tricks with which evil presents itself as good.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed-but-the-extravagance-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed-but-the-extravagance-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/270/donna-tartt-391_quote_they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed_2024668.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They understand not only evil, it seemed, but the extravagance of tricks with which evil presents itself as…” — Donna Tartt", "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": "Donna Tartt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They understand not only evil, it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed-but-the-extravagance-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/they-understand-not-only-evil-it-seemed-but-the-extravagance-of/#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 } } ] } ```