Cruelty Quote by Jean Genet
““It was the first time I saw the look on the face of the people I robbed: it was ugly. I was the cause of such ugliness, and the only thing that made me feel was a cruel pleasure which, I thought, was bound to transfigure my own face, to make me resplendent. I was then 23 years old. From that moment on, I felt capable of advancing in cruelty.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Thief's Journal, 1935
The narrator realizes the ugliness he causes and feels a perverse pleasure, fueling further cruelty.
In simple terms: Seeing the harm he caused gives him a twisted satisfaction.
Key Takeaway
Beware of letting cruelty become self‑reinforcing.
Themes
guilt
power
self‑awareness
violence
Mood
disturbing
introspective
Type
literary
psychological
When to use this quote
- Crime
- personal reflection
- young adulthood
Key Concepts
Moral decay
psychology of cruelty
Questions to Reflect On
- What drives people to find pleasure in harming others?
- Can awareness stop the cycle of cruelty?
A Different Perspective
The pleasure may be fleeting and leads to deeper moral loss.
![“How did I become who I am? I have a heart easily hurt. I believed that cruelty was most often caused by ignorance. I thought that if everybody knew, everything would be different. I was a silly child who believed in the revolution. [...] I can't be bought or intimidated because I'm already cut…” quote by Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fcc/andrea-dworkin-1998_children_how-did-i-become-who-i-am-i-have-a-heart_1408049.jpg)
