Abel Quote by Margaret Atwood
“When we're good, we're very, very good, and when we're bad, we're horrid. This is not news, because we're so much more inventive and we have two hands, the left and the right. That is how we think. It's all over our literature, and it's all over the way we arrange archetypes, the good version, the bad version, the god, the devil, the Abel, the Cain, you name it. We arrange things in pairs like that because we know about ourselves.”
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Handmaid’s Tale, 1985
Human nature is dualistic, expressing both good and evil, reflected in cultural archetypes and moral binaries.
In simple terms: People have both good and bad sides, shown in stories.
Key Takeaway
Accept duality and seek balance.
Themes
human nature
duality
archetypes
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- conflict resolution
- creative writing
- education
- personal growth
Key Concepts
Moral psychology
mythology
binary thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you reconcile opposing aspects of yourself?
- What role do archetypes play in your life?
A Different Perspective
Oversimplifying binaries can ignore nuance and complexity.
![“No mathematician should ever allow him to forget that mathematics, more than any other art or science, is a young man's game. ... Galois died at twenty-one, Abel at twenty-seven, Ramanujan at thirty-three, Riemann at forty. There have been men who have done great work later; ... [but] I do not…” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/876/anonymous-1_abel_no-mathematician-should-ever-allow-him-t_651008.jpg)
