--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Malevolence is shameful but satisfying." description: "\"Malevolence is shameful but satisfying.\" — Mason Cooley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/mason-cooley-92_evil_malevolence-is-shameful-but-satisfying-1_1222379.png" --- # Malevolence is shameful but satisfying. ![“Malevolence is shameful but satisfying.” quote by Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/mason-cooley-92_evil_malevolence-is-shameful-but-satisfying-1_1222379.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/mason-cooley-92_evil_malevolence-is-shameful-but-satisfying-1_1222379.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/mason-cooley-92_evil_malevolence-is-shameful-but-satisfying-1_1222379.png) > “Malevolence is shameful but satisfying.” [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Shameful actions can be alluring despite their moral cost. **In simple terms:** Bad deeds feel rewarding. Key Takeaway Beware of tempting immorality. Themes ethics temptation shame Mood conflicted thoughtful Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal decisions - business negotiations - political power Key Concepts moral psychology cognitive dissonance Questions to Reflect On - Why do people enjoy wrongdoing? - Can satisfaction replace remorse? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Malevolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malevolence/) [Satisfying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfying/) ## Related quotes > [“The human beings must be mentally immensely strong, during the encounter with the true malevolence in others, because on it's own it doesn't belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mladen-or-evi/the-human-beings-must-be-mentally-immensely-strong-during-the/) [Mladen Đorđević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mladen-or-evi/) > [The Christians who engaged in infamous persecutions and shameful inquisitions were not evil men but misguided men. The churchmen who felt they had an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-christians-who-engaged-in-infamous-persecutions-and-shameful/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The individualism of current economic theory is manifest in the purely self-interested behaviour it generally assumes. It has no real place for fairness, malevolence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-e-daly/the-individualism-of-current-economic-theory-is-manifest-in-the/) [Herman E. Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-e-daly/) > [“He stared at me and, though the fate he pronounced was golden, there was a malevolence in his dead eyes. ‘You will be king,’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-cornwell/he-stared-at-me-and-though-the-fate-he-pronounced-was-golden-there/) [Bernard Cornwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-cornwell/) > [Twenty-one years ago, when I first heard Mia Farrow had accused me of child molestation, I found the idea so ludicrous I didn't give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/twenty-one-years-ago-when-i-first-heard-mia-farrow-had-accused-me-of/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [The judgment of posterity is truer, because it is free from envy and malevolence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-judgment-of-posterity-is-truer-because-it-is-free-from-envy-and/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [One of the hardest labours of the just man is to expunge from his soul a malevolence which it is difficult to efface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/one-of-the-hardest-labours-of-the-just-man-is-to-expunge-from-his/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [I think you have a social responsibility as the villain, which is pretty different from the hero's responsibility. If you have any kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-coyote/i-think-you-have-a-social-responsibility-as-the-villain-which-is/) [Peter Coyote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-coyote/) > [Never attribute to malevolence what is merely due to incompetence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/never-attribute-to-malevolence-what-is-merely-due-to-incompetence/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [This movement among the Jews is not new... this worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization and for the reconstitution of society on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/this-movement-among-the-jews-is-not-new-this-worldwide-conspiracy-for/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [It would seem that emotions are the curse, not death-emotions that appear to have developed upon a few freaks as a special curse from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-would-seem-that-emotions-are-the-curse-not-death-emotions-that/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The malevolence of men revealed itself to his mind in all of its ugliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-malevolence-of-men-revealed-itself-to-his-mind-in-all-of-its/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [The arrows of malevolence ... however barbed and well pointed, never can reach the most vulnerable part of me; though, whilst I am up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-arrows-of-malevolence-however-barbed-and-well-pointed-never-can/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“The Great Malevolence had been squatting in the blackness for a very long time. He was there billions of years before people, or dinosaurs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-connolly/the-great-malevolence-had-been-squatting-in-the-blackness-for-a-very/) [John Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-connolly/) ## More by Mason Cooley > [Nostalgia keeps dissolving the ironic narratives in which I have contained my past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/nostalgia-keeps-dissolving-the-ironic-narratives-in-which-i-have/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Money comes to life as it is spent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/money-comes-to-life-as-it-is-spent/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Even the most fickle are faithful to a few bad habits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-fickle-are-faithful-to-a-few-bad-habits/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Rage is exciting, but leaves me confused and exhausted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/rage-is-exciting-but-leaves-me-confused-and-exhausted/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Literary tradition is full of lies about poverty-the jolly beggar, the poor but happy milkmaid, the wholesome diet of porridge, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/literary-tradition-is-full-of-lies-about-poverty-the-jolly-beggar-the/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Experience teaches us, but we scarcely know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/experience-teaches-us-but-we-scarcely-know-what/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The body has a mind of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-body-has-a-mind-of-its-own/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [In retirement, I look for days off from my days off. 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Thus I feel both self-indulgent and deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/my-intentions-go-one-way-my-desires-another-thus-i-feel-both-self/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [The Puritan sours his pleasures by disguising them as duties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-puritan-sours-his-pleasures-by-disguising-them-as-duties/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Unlike the actual, the fictional explains itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/unlike-the-actual-the-fictional-explains-itself/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Vacations prove that a life of pleasure is overrated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/vacations-prove-that-a-life-of-pleasure-is-overrated/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Outside literature, high-flown sentiments are merely exasperating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/outside-literature-high-flown-sentiments-are-merely-exasperating/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Explore all 1,401 Mason Cooley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## 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. 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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. 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