--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To fight evil is to fight ourselves." description: "\"To fight evil is to fight ourselves.\" — Octavio Paz" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg" --- # To fight evil is to fight ourselves. ![“To fight evil is to fight ourselves.” quote by Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg) > “To fight evil is to fight ourselves.” [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests that confronting external evil requires confronting our own inner flaws. **In simple terms:** Fighting evil means fighting yourself. Key Takeaway Look inward before blaming others. Themes self‑reflection morality inner conflict Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - conflict resolution - social activism Key Concepts psychology ethical responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What inner battles hinder your fight against evil? - How can self‑awareness improve societal change? A Different Perspective Self‑criticism can be paralyzing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight/) ## Related quotes > [The contest is not between us and them, but between good and evil, and if those who would fight evil adopt the ways of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-contest-is-not-between-us-and-them-but-between-good-and-evil-and/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The world of superheroes is black and white; the world of monsters is not. Sometimes you need evil to fight evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-langley/the-world-of-superheroes-is-black-and-white-the-world-of-monsters-is/) [Donna Langley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-langley/) > [But what is the greatest evil? If you are going to epitomize evil, what is it? Is it the bomb? The greatest evil that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-mcgooha/but-what-is-the-greatest-evil-if-you-are-going-to-epitomize-evil-what/) Patrick McGooha > [The greatest evil that one has to fight constantly, every minute of the day until one dies, is the worst part of oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-mcgoohan/the-greatest-evil-that-one-has-to-fight-constantly-every-minute-of/) [Patrick McGoohan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-mcgoohan/) > [We sometimes feel the shadows have got hold of us, the shadows of evil. But still, it's up to us to fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-totheroh/we-sometimes-feel-the-shadows-have-got-hold-of-us-the-shadows-of-evil/) Dan Totheroh > [That's a phenomenon of the Left: You don't fight evil. You fight carbon emissions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/that-s-a-phenomenon-of-the-left-you-don-t-fight-evil-you-fight-carbon/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [Those who don't fight evil hate those who do; and those who don't fight real evils make up little evils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/those-who-don-t-fight-evil-hate-those-who-do-and-those-who-don-t/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [“Evil does not fight against evil, rather it struggles against Good. Where as, Good does not struggle against evil, rather it overwhelmingly defeats it".…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-alan-woods/evil-does-not-fight-against-evil-rather-it-struggles-against-good/) [R. Alan Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-alan-woods/) > [It is your karma to fight evil. It doesn't matter if the people that evil is being committed against don't fight back. It doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amish-tripathi/it-is-your-karma-to-fight-evil-it-doesn-t-matter-if-the-people-that/) [Amish Tripathi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amish-tripathi/) > [The fight against evil is long and difficult. It is essential to pray constantly and to be patient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-fight-against-evil-is-long-and-difficult-it-is-essential-to-pray/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [The problems of this world are so gigantic that some are paralysed by their own uncertainty. Courage and wisdom are needed to reach out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrix-of-the-netherlands/the-problems-of-this-world-are-so-gigantic-that-some-are-paralysed-by/) Beatrix of the Netherlands > [To fight evil, you have to understand the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/to-fight-evil-you-have-to-understand-the-dark/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [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/) > [Religion urges us to fight evil as contrary to the Divine Law. It urges us to combat abject misery, sin and disease because God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-montagu/religion-urges-us-to-fight-evil-as-contrary-to-the-divine-law-it/) Lily Montagu > [Are the great spiritual teachings really advocating that we fight evil because we are on the side of light, the side of peace? Are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/are-the-great-spiritual-teachings-really-advocating-that-we-fight/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) ## More by Octavio Paz > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I thought that the world was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-thought-that-the-world-was-a-vast-system-of-signs-a-conversation/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Changes are inseparable from democracy. To defend democracy is to defend the possibility of change; in turn, changes alone can strengthen democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/changes-are-inseparable-from-democracy-to-defend-democracy-is-to/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Grace is gratuitous; it is a gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/grace-is-gratuitous-it-is-a-gift/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Death is the mother of forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/death-is-the-mother-of-forms/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [It is not proper to project our feelings onto things or to attribute our own sensations and passions to them. Can it also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/it-is-not-proper-to-project-our-feelings-onto-things-or-to-attribute/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Without democracy freedom is a chimera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/without-democracy-freedom-is-a-chimera/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“I went to the little window and inhaled the country air. One could hear the breathing of the night, feminine, enormous. ("The Blue Bouquet")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-went-to-the-little-window-and-inhaled-the-country-air-one-could/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their function. Handicrafts belong to a world existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/a-glass-pitcher-a-wicker-basket-a-tunic-of-coarse-cloth-their-beauty/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Between going and staying the day wavers, in love with its own transparency. The circular afternoon is now a bay where the world in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/between-going-and-staying-the-day-wavers-in-love-with-its-own/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Two bodies face to face Are at times two waves And the night is an ocean. Two bodies face to face Are sometimes two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/two-bodies-face-to-face-are-at-times-two-waves-and-the-night-is-an/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Writers, you know, are the beggars of Western society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/writers-you-know-are-the-beggars-of-western-society/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/solitude-is-the-profoundest-fact-of-the-human-condition/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“...you are you and your body of steam, you and your face of night, you and your hair, unhurried lightning, you cross the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/you-are-you-and-your-body-of-steam-you-and-your-face-of-night-you-and/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) [Explore all 150 Octavio Paz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## 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": "To fight evil is to fight ourselves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Octavio Paz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04e/octavio-paz-1790_evil_to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves-3222_3222503.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To fight evil is to fight ourselves.” — Octavio Paz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Octavio Paz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To fight evil is to fight...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/to-fight-evil-is-to-fight-ourselves/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```