--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There will always be those who mean to do…" description: "\"“There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves.”\" — James T. Kirk" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/james-t-kirk-2-97887_evil-within_there-will-always-be-those-who-mean-to-d_1457333.jpg" --- # There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop… ![“There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves.” quote by James T. Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/james-t-kirk-2-97887_evil-within_there-will-always-be-those-who-mean-to-d_1457333.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/james-t-kirk-2-97887_evil-within_there-will-always-be-those-who-mean-to-d_1457333.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d99/james-t-kirk-2-97887_evil-within_there-will-always-be-those-who-mean-to-d_1457333.jpg) > ““There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves.”” James T. Kirk ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People who intend harm can trigger similar darkness in us if we fight them aggressively. **In simple terms:** Fighting evil may awaken our own.. Key Takeaway Guard against becoming what you oppose. Themes evil self‑reflection conflict Mood cautious reflective Type moral philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - political activism - conflict resolution Key Concepts morality psychology power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when defending yourself mirrors the threat? - What safeguards can prevent moral erosion? A Different Perspective Blind retaliation can perpetuate the very harm you seek to stop. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil within](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-within/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) ## Related quotes > [Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/half-of-the-harm-that-is-done-in-this-world-is-due-to-people-who-want/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Sometimes the people who mean you harm, are the ones that say they love you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-werlin/sometimes-the-people-who-mean-you-harm-are-the-ones-that-say-they/) [Nancy Werlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-werlin/) > [Heather Badcock meant no harm. She never did mean harm, but there is no doubt that people like Heather Badcock (and like my old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/heather-badcock-meant-no-harm-she-never-did-mean-harm-but-there-is-no/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [“Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/half-the-harm-that-is-done-in-this-world-is-due-to-people-who-want-to/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [“The first rule of being a ninja is, 'Do no harm.' Unless you mean to do harm. Then do lots of harm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/splinter-tmnt-2012/the-first-rule-of-being-a-ninja-is-do-no-harm-unless-you-mean-to-do/) Splinter TMNT 2012 > [I don't see as it matters much how well you mean if it's harm you're doin'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/i-don-t-see-as-it-matters-much-how-well-you-mean-if-it-s-harm-you-re/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [When we deny the EVIL within ourselves, we dehumanize ourselves, and we deprive ourselves not only of our own destiny but of any possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/when-we-deny-the-evil-within-ourselves-we-dehumanize-ourselves-and-we/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [“Mark Rosewater wrote: Science fiction, at is core, is about exploring what if. It is literature investigating humanity’s potential. Fantasy, at its core, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-corkill/mark-rosewater-wrote-science-fiction-at-is-core-is-about-exploring/) James M. Corkill > [“No matter how an individual views Satan, whether they believe that he is a real character or that he is just the product of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nwaocha-ogechukwu/no-matter-how-an-individual-views-satan-whether-they-believe-that-he/) Nwaocha Ogechukwu > [No, I am Recovering from the evil within...I am not amidst the Twilight.. Im on the Road to The Dawn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riku-nexal/no-i-am-recovering-from-the-evil-within-i-am-not-amidst-the-twilight/) Riku Nexal > [The greatest JIHAD/STRIVE is to battle your own soul,to fight the evil within yourself. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail/the-greatest-jihad-strive-is-to-battle-your-own-soul-to-fight-the/) [Ismail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail/) > [The evil within the fantasy genre tends to be threatening to the heroes within the story, but not to the reader - or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-derrickson/the-evil-within-the-fantasy-genre-tends-to-be-threatening-to-the/) [Scott Derrickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-derrickson/) > [There is good and evil within all of us, and I enjoy searching to bring that out through my music. I like it that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-manson/there-is-good-and-evil-within-all-of-us-and-i-enjoy-searching-to/) [Marilyn Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-manson/) > [Sufis teach that we first must battle and destroy the evil within ourselves by shining upon it the good within, and then we learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feisal-abdul-rauf/sufis-teach-that-we-first-must-battle-and-destroy-the-evil-within/) [Feisal Abdul Rauf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feisal-abdul-rauf/) > [You are never tempted by a devil without you, but by a devil within you,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elias-hicks/you-are-never-tempted-by-a-devil-without-you-but-by-a-devil-within-you/) [Elias Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elias-hicks/) ## More by James T. Kirk > [“I'm from Iowa, I only work in outer space”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-t-kirk-2/i-m-from-iowa-i-only-work-in-outer-space/) James T. Kirk Explore all 2 James T. Kirk quotes ## 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 will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James T. 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