--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And this is the forbidden truth, the…" description: "\"And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/joyce-carol-oates-344_accidents_and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unsp_71432.png" --- # And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo… ![“And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices.” quote by Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/joyce-carol-oates-344_accidents_and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unsp_71432.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/joyce-carol-oates-344_accidents_and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unsp_71432.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/348/joyce-carol-oates-344_accidents_and-this-is-the-forbidden-truth-the-unsp_71432.png) > “And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices.” [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reveals that evil can be alluring, turning people from passive victims into willing participants. **In simple terms:** Evil can be attractive, not just repellent. Key Takeaway Attraction to evil creates complicity. Themes moral ambiguity human nature temptation psychology of evil agency Mood cautionary reflective somber Type philosophical literary warning When to use this quote - political corruption - cult dynamics - personal betrayal - war crimes Key Concepts moral conflict psychological allure social responsibility Practical Applications - ethical training - psychological counseling Questions to Reflect On - What makes people choose complicity over resistance? - How does allure change moral judgment? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Accomplices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accomplices/) [Active](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/active/) [Attractive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attractive/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Forbidden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden/) [Forbidden Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forbidden-truth-936209/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Taboo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taboo/) [Taboo Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taboo-evil-936208/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Truth Unspeakable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth-unspeakable-936211/) [Unspeakable Taboo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unspeakable-taboo-936210/) [Victim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim/) ## Related quotes > [It takes little or nothing to undo reputations, the merest trifle makes and remakes them, it is simply a question of finding the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/it-takes-little-or-nothing-to-undo-reputations-the-merest-trifle/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [When struck on one cheek to turn the other, is really joining a conspiracy to secure the triumph of brutality. To agree not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-struck-on-one-cheek-to-turn-the-other-is-really-joining-a/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [We become accomplices in evil every time we seek to soothe the unslakable appetites of the crime family that sits in Pyongyang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/we-become-accomplices-in-evil-every-time-we-seek-to-soothe-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [You give up the world line by line. Stoically. And then one day you realize that your courage is farcical. 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The next time you're an accomplice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-judd/you-re-only-a-victim-once-the-next-time-you-re-an-accomplice/) [Naomi Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-judd/) > [And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion. And whenever those twin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/and-the-past-held-only-this-wisdom-that-love-was-a-damaging-mistake-2/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [An American professor complained that a crypto-Marxist like me was invited in the USA, and I was denounced by the press in Eastern European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/an-american-professor-complained-that-a-crypto-marxist-like-me-was/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Insecurity is miserable. That's the bottom line. We don't need it. We don't want it. And we really can live without it. 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Any idiot can be happy in a happy place, but moral courage is required to be happy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-challenge-is-to-resist-circumstances-any-idiot-can-be-happy-in-a/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [The first sentence cant be written until the final sentence is written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-first-sentence-cant-be-written-until-the-final-sentence-is-written/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“Did you know, Marianne: how by breaking the code that day, you broke it forever? For us all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/did-you-know-marianne-how-by-breaking-the-code-that-day-you-broke-it/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > ['The Accursed' is very much a novel about social injustice as the consequence of the terrible, tragic division of classes - the exploitation not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/the-accursed-is-very-much-a-novel-about-social-injustice-as-the/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [Keep a light, hopeful heart. But expect the worst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/keep-a-light-hopeful-heart-but-expect-the-worst/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [I don't think that writer's block exists really. I think that when you're trying to do something prematurely, it just won't come. 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