--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are no self-proclaimed villains…" description: "\"There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.\" — Glen Cook" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/glen-cook-9893_evil_there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-on_1324595.jpg" --- # There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of… ![“There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.” quote by Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/glen-cook-9893_evil_there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-on_1324595.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/glen-cook-9893_evil_there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-on_1324595.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd8/glen-cook-9893_evil_there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-on_1324595.jpg) > “There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies.” [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Power defines villains and saints; history is written by those who win, not by objective morality. **In simple terms:** History is written by winners, not by truth. Key Takeaway Question who writes history. Themes power history morality perception Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - political analysis - media literacy - education - critical thinking Key Concepts relativism narrative control heroism Questions to Reflect On - Who decides who is a hero or villain? - How does power shape moral narratives? A Different Perspective History can be biased by victors, obscuring truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Villain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/villain/) ## Related quotes > [“There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies. We abjure labels. We fight for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-only-regiments-of-self/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Who says history is stagnant? For a historian, facts do not change; it is the way we look at things, our interpretations, that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-says-history-is-stagnant-for-a-historian-facts-do-not-change-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The footnote would seem to be the smallest detail in a work of history. Yet it carries a large burden of responsibility, testifying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-himmelfarb/the-footnote-would-seem-to-be-the-smallest-detail-in-a-work-of/) [Gertrude Himmelfarb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-himmelfarb/) > [I'm a historian by training and by conviction. And so the thing that has throughout informed my thinking about international relations is history. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-garton-ash/i-m-a-historian-by-training-and-by-conviction-and-so-the-thing-that/) [Timothy Garton Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-garton-ash/) > [If experiments are performed thousands of times at all seasons and in every place without once producing the effects mentioned by your philosophers, poets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/if-experiments-are-performed-thousands-of-times-at-all-seasons-and-in/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“The historian will tell you what happened, the novelist will tell you what it felt like.” E.L. Doctorow”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-historian-will-tell-you-what-happened-the-novelist-will-tell-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that's my job...And I'm prepared to say on that basis if anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/all-i-am-in-private-life-is-a-literary-critic-and-historian-that-s-my/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The issue of civil rights was too much for the establishment to handle. One of the chapters of history that's least studied by historians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/the-issue-of-civil-rights-was-too-much-for-the-establishment-to/) [Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/) > [The historian amputates reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaetano-salvemini/the-historian-amputates-reality/) Gaetano Salvemini > [The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldwin-smith/the-novelist-must-look-on-humanity-without-partiality-or-prejudice/) [Goldwin Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldwin-smith/) > [A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/a-historian-is-not-always-a-prophet-facing-backwards-but-a-journalist/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/in-history-as-it-comes-to-be-written-there-is-usually-some-spirit-of/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [“military historian Richard Holmes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clare-wright/military-historian-richard-holmes/) Clare Wright > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) ## More by Glen Cook > [“Truth is a deadly weapon, Lady said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/truth-is-a-deadly-weapon-lady-said/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“I cry for a little girl's dreams. I cry because the dreams will not die, though I am powerless to make them come true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/i-cry-for-a-little-girl-s-dreams-i-cry-because-the-dreams-will-not/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [No religion I ever encountered made any sense. None are consistent. Most gods are megalomaniacs and paranoid psychotics by their worshippers' description. I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/no-religion-i-ever-encountered-made-any-sense-none-are-consistent/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. Victorious historians rule where good or evil lies. We abjure labels. We fight for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/there-are-no-self-proclaimed-villains-only-regiments-of-self/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Evil is relative…You can’t hang a sign on it. You can’t touch it or taste it or cut it with a sword. Evil depends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/evil-is-relative-you-can-t-hang-a-sign-on-it-you-can-t-touch-it-or/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“The Lady was medicine bad enough. The Dominator, though, was the body of which her evil was but a shadow. Or so the legend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/the-lady-was-medicine-bad-enough-the-dominator-though-was-the-body-of/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“About you and me, Croaker and his gang, the Lady, Silent, Darling. About all the things we had in common but still couldn’t get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/about-you-and-me-croaker-and-his-gang-the-lady-silent-darling-about/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [The people come from everywhere, from five hundred miles, to find their fortunes. By fortune is an ugly, two-faced goddess. When you have lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/the-people-come-from-everywhere-from-five-hundred-miles-to-find-their/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“Closer at hand, the wheeling gulls were as surly and lackadaisical as the day promised to make most men.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/closer-at-hand-the-wheeling-gulls-were-as-surly-and-lackadaisical-as/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [A world ought to have a few genuine good guys, and not just a spectrum of people running from bad to worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/a-world-ought-to-have-a-few-genuine-good-guys-and-not-just-a-spectrum/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [I believe in our side and theirs, with the good and evil decided after the fact, by those who survive. Among men you seldom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/i-believe-in-our-side-and-theirs-with-the-good-and-evil-decided-after/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Soldiers live. He dies and not you, and you feel guilty, because you're glad he died, and not you. Soldiers live, and wonder why.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/soldiers-live-he-dies-and-not-you-and-you-feel-guilty-because-you-re/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“I am the Daughter of Night. I am the Child of Darkness Forthcoming. Come to my mother or become prey for the beasts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/i-am-the-daughter-of-night-i-am-the-child-of-darkness-forthcoming/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [“In the night, when the wind dies and silence rules the place of glittering stone, I remember. And they all live again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/in-the-night-when-the-wind-dies-and-silence-rules-the-place-of/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [Consistency is the sign of a narrow mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/consistency-is-the-sign-of-a-narrow-mind/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) [Explore all 69 Glen Cook quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) ## 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 > [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": "There are no self-proclaimed villains, only regiments of self-proclaimed saints. 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