--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One that confounds good and evil is an…" description: "\"One that confounds good and evil is an enemy to good.\" — Edmund Burke" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg" --- # One that confounds good and evil is an enemy to good. ![“One that confounds good and evil is an enemy to good.” quote by Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg) > “One that confounds good and evil is an enemy to good.” [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Confusing moral categories undermines virtue and good outcomes. **In simple terms:** Mixing good and evil harms good. Key Takeaway Clarify moral distinctions. Themes ethics politics virtue Mood reflective serious Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - judicial decisions - public discourse Key Concepts moral philosophy political theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate good from evil in policy? - When is compromise morally acceptable? A Different Perspective Moral ambiguity can be inevitable in complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Confounds Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confounds-good-2677729/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Enemy Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy-good-356948/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-enemy-1607806/) [Good and evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-and-evil/) [Good evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-evil/) ## Related quotes > [When you are generalizing, and when your goal is to malign and to say things about an entire group - there are tens of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirstie-alley/when-you-are-generalizing-and-when-your-goal-is-to-malign-and-to-say/) [Kirstie Alley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirstie-alley/) > [“Console yourself not with the lie that your foe is weak, or stupid, or evil. Sometimes the enemy is worthy. Sometimes his cause is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-lisle/console-yourself-not-with-the-lie-that-your-foe-is-weak-or-stupid-or/) [Holly Lisle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-lisle/) > [“Typical case, educated way, way beyond her IQ, with ambition stronger than ability. She’s just another cause fascist, son, and that’s the worst kind;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-f-hamilton/typical-case-educated-way-way-beyond-her-iq-with-ambition-stronger/) [Peter F. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-f-hamilton/) > [“Could you maybe not admire the evil enemy quite as much, and focus on how we're going to get out of this?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/could-you-maybe-not-admire-the-evil-enemy-quite-as-much-and-focus-on/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [Your enemies are always manufactured to suit your purpose, right? How can you have a good enemy? You have to have an utterly evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/your-enemies-are-always-manufactured-to-suit-your-purpose-right-how/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [The evil the enemy may do never expresses all that he is. Nonviolence is a wager-- not so much on the goodness of humanity--…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-inchausti/the-evil-the-enemy-may-do-never-expresses-all-that-he-is-nonviolence/) [Robert Inchausti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-inchausti/) > [Would thou confound thy enemy, be good thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/would-thou-confound-thy-enemy-be-good-thyself/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“We learn that there are in creation, Beings - perhaps very numerous - both good and evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-whatley/we-learn-that-there-are-in-creation-beings-perhaps-very-numerous-both/) [Richard Whatley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-whatley/) > [Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/compassion-alone-stands-apart-from-the-continuous-traffic-between/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [All of the films I have made, that I have chosen to make, are all about the thin line between good and evil. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-friedkin/all-of-the-films-i-have-made-that-i-have-chosen-to-make-are-all-about/) [William Friedkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-friedkin/) > [The meaning of good and bad, of better and worse, is simply helping or hurting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-meaning-of-good-and-bad-of-better-and-worse-is-simply-helping-or/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In fine, a life of good or evil, the hope of Heaven or the despair of Hell, Faustus stands as a reminder that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-fine-a-life-of-good-or-evil-the-hope-of-heaven-or-the-despair-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“He was not Evil, for even Evil has a certain vitality — Bel-Shamharoth was the flip side of the coin of which Good and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/he-was-not-evil-for-even-evil-has-a-certain-vitality-bel-shamharoth/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I believe it's true that there's good and evil in everyone and it's a constant struggle to have your better angels prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-friedkin/i-believe-it-s-true-that-there-s-good-and-evil-in-everyone-and-it-s-a/) [William Friedkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-friedkin/) > [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/) ## More by Edmund Burke > [It is the interest of the commercial world that wealth should be found everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/it-is-the-interest-of-the-commercial-world-that-wealth-should-be/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Many of the greatest tyrants on the records of history have begun their reigns in the fairest manner. But the truth is, this unnatural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/many-of-the-greatest-tyrants-on-the-records-of-history-have-begun/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“Wise men will apply their remedies to vices, not to names; to the causes of evil which are permanent, not to the occasional organs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/wise-men-will-apply-their-remedies-to-vices-not-to-names-to-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“A man full of warm, speculative benevolence may wish his society otherwise constituted than he finds it; but a good patriot, and a true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-man-full-of-warm-speculative-benevolence-may-wish-his-society/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [My vigour relents. I pardon something to the spirit of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/my-vigour-relents-i-pardon-something-to-the-spirit-of-liberty/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [A speculative despair is unpardonable where it our duty to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/a-speculative-despair-is-unpardonable-where-it-our-duty-to-act/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The great must submit to the dominion of prudence and of virtue, or none will long submit to the dominion of thegreat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-great-must-submit-to-the-dominion-of-prudence-and-of-virtue-or/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/those-who-have-been-once-intoxicated-with-power-and-have-derived-any/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [What is it we all seek for in an election? To answer its real purposes, you must first possess the means of knowing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/what-is-it-we-all-seek-for-in-an-election-to-answer-its-real-purposes/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Society is indeed a contract. It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/society-is-indeed-a-contract-it-is-a-partnership-in-all-science-a/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [You can never plan the future by the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/you-can-never-plan-the-future-by-the-past/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [The great inlet by which a colour for oppression has entered into the world is by one man's pretending to determine concerning the happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-great-inlet-by-which-a-colour-for-oppression-has-entered-into-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [By the disposition of a stupendous wisdom, moulding together the great mysterious incorporation of the human race, the whole, at one time, is never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/by-the-disposition-of-a-stupendous-wisdom-moulding-together-the-great/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Religion, to have any force upon men's understandings,--indeed, to exist at all,--must be supposed paramount to law, and independent for its substance upon any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/religion-to-have-any-force-upon-men-s-understandings-indeed-to-exist/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Explore all 595 Edmund Burke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## More Enemy quotes > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Before you were my enemy, you were my best friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/before-you-were-my-enemy-you-were-my-best-friend/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Fear is a man's worst enemy, but love is a man's most powerful weapon against anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-is-a-man-s-worst-enemy-but-love-is-a-man-s-most-powerful-weapon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [“Never let your Enemies become your Advocates.” by A. K. Hasan”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-k-hasan/never-let-your-enemies-become-your-advocates-by-a-k-hasan/) [A.K. Hasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-k-hasan/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power & movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [In this business, you find the enemy, then go after and destroy him. Everything else is rubbish!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rickenbacker/in-this-business-you-find-the-enemy-then-go-after-and-destroy-him/) [Eddie Rickenbacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rickenbacker/) > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) [Browse all 7,981 Enemy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One that confounds good and evil is an enemy to good.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edmund Burke" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-enemy-to-good/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enemy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-enemy-to-good/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/edmund-burke-400_enemy_one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-e_1883735.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One that confounds good and evil is an enemy to good.” — Edmund Burke", "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": "Edmund Burke", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "One that confounds good and evil...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-enemy-to-good/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/one-that-confounds-good-and-evil-is-an-enemy-to-good/#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 } } ] } ```