--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are all measured, good or evil, by the…" description: "\"“We are all measured, good or evil, by the wrong we do to others; I had made a monster and turned it loose upon the world and--since recognition is, af..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg" --- # We are all measured, good or evil, by the wrong we do to… ![“We are all measured, good or evil, by the wrong we do to others; I had made a monster and turned it loose upon the world and--since recognition is, after all, the cruelest pain--had seen it clearly and with understanding.” quote by Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg) > ““We are all measured, good or evil, by the wrong we do to others; I had made a monster and turned it loose upon the world and--since recognition is, after all, the cruelest pain--had seen it clearly and with understanding.”” [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our actions toward others define our moral measure; recognizing our own harmful creations forces painful self‑awareness. **In simple terms:** Our deeds to others reveal our morality. Key Takeaway Reflect on the impact of your actions. Themes morality self‑reflection consequences human nature Mood somber introspective Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - interpersonal conflicts - community decisions - leadership choices - parenting - justice systems Key Concepts ethical philosophy psychology social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What harm have you caused unintentionally? - How can you repair past wrongs? A Different Perspective Self‑awareness can be uncomfortable and may lead to guilt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [“Boys do not fully know what is good and what is evil; they do wrong things at first almost innocently. 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Merriam > [I could not have known Colin Campbell would turn out to be the debased, cruel monster he turned out to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-colin-campbell/i-could-not-have-known-colin-campbell-would-turn-out-to-be-the/) [Lady Colin Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-colin-campbell/) > [“I don’t know. How can you know? I…I’m a monster. When I’m hungry, I might do anything." "Oh no, of course I couldn’t possibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/i-don-t-know-how-can-you-know-i-i-m-a-monster-when-i-m-hungry-i-might/) [Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/) > [The cruelty, war and violence, this is evil, wrong and dark and that's what we should hide from the children, not a human body!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lachapelle/the-cruelty-war-and-violence-this-is-evil-wrong-and-dark-and-that-s/) [David LaChapelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lachapelle/) > [You may never understand How the stranger is inspired For he is not always evil, And he is not always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/you-may-never-understand-how-the-stranger-is-inspired-for-he-is-not/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/capital-as-such-is-not-evil-it-is-its-wrong-use-that-is-evil/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I think even the characters that are fundamentally evil and wrong, I want people to really love them. I think that's important to writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-russell/i-think-even-the-characters-that-are-fundamentally-evil-and-wrong-i/) [Mark Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-russell/) > [The world is not full of evil because of those who do wrong. It is full of evil because of those who do nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-world-is-not-full-of-evil-because-of-those-who-do-wrong-it-is/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Armed people are free. No state can control those who have the machinery and the will to resist, no mob can take their liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/armed-people-are-free-no-state-can-control-those-who-have-the/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [“Say to yourself first thing in the morning: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, aggressive, treacherous, malicious, unsocial. All this has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/say-to-yourself-first-thing-in-the-morning-today-i-shall-meet-people/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [“What I had before was dark and evil and wrong . It wasn’t love. It was never love. “This, right here, is love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-proby/what-i-had-before-was-dark-and-evil-and-wrong-it-wasn-t-love-it-was/) [Kristen Proby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-proby/) > [We tolerate, even promote, many things we once regarded as evil, wrong, or immoral. And then we seek "explanations" for an act that seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-thomas/we-tolerate-even-promote-many-things-we-once-regarded-as-evil-wrong/) [Cal Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-thomas/) > [Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/capital-as-such-is-not-evil-it-is-its-wrong-use-that-is-evil-capital/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Shirley Jackson > [I can't help it when people are frightened," says Merricat. "I always want to frighten them more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/i-can-t-help-it-when-people-are-frightened-says-merricat-i-always/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“She could not remember ever being truly happy in her adult life; her years with her mother had been built up devotedly around small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/she-could-not-remember-ever-being-truly-happy-in-her-adult-life-her/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“Upstairs Margaret said abruptly, 'I suppose it starts to happen first in the suburbs,' and when Brad said, 'What starts to happen?' she said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/upstairs-margaret-said-abruptly-i-suppose-it-starts-to-happen-first/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“The beautiful clarity of all marked outlines occurred to her--there would be a deep satisfaction in strengthening fences, for instance, going along on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/the-beautiful-clarity-of-all-marked-outlines-occurred-to-her-there/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“And we held each other in the dark hall and laughed, with the tears running down our cheeks and echoes of our laughter going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/and-we-held-each-other-in-the-dark-hall-and-laughed-with-the-tears/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“Why do people want to talk to each other? I mean, what are the things people always want to find out about other people?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/why-do-people-want-to-talk-to-each-other-i-mean-what-are-the-things/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/within-walls-continued-upright-bricks-met-neatly-floors-were-firm-and/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“It was as though the people needed the ugliness of the village, and fed on it. The houses and the stores seemed to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/it-was-as-though-the-people-needed-the-ugliness-of-the-village-and/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“Eleanor—“I plan to stay up and read for a while.” “Are you still reading Pamela?” Eleanor asked the doctor. “Volume two. I have three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/eleanor-i-plan-to-stay-up-and-read-for-a-while-are-you-still-reading/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“Is everyone really crazy but me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/is-everyone-really-crazy-but-me/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/february-when-the-days-of-winter-seem-endless-and-no-amount-of/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [“it’s quite a hazard, quite a hazard indeed, people knocking you down. Still, it’s a genuine pleasure to find one as willing as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/it-s-quite-a-hazard-quite-a-hazard-indeed-people-knocking-you-down/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [On the moon we have everything. Lettuce, and pumpkin pie and Amanita phalloides. We have cat-furred plants and horses dancing with their wings. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/on-the-moon-we-have-everything-lettuce-and-pumpkin-pie-and-amanita/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [She walked quickly around her one-room apartment. After more than four years in this one home she knew all its possibilities, how it could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/she-walked-quickly-around-her-one-room-apartment-after-more-than-four/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) > [I very much dislike writing about myself or my work, and when pressed for autobiographical material can only give a bare chronological outline which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/i-very-much-dislike-writing-about-myself-or-my-work-and-when-pressed/) [Shirley Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) [Explore all 224 Shirley Jackson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/) ## 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": "“We are all measured, good or evil, by the wrong we do to others; I had made a monster and turned it loose upon the world and--since recognition is, after all, the cruelest pain--had seen it clearly and with understanding.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shirley Jackson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the-wrong-we-do-to-others-i-had/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Evil" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the-wrong-we-do-to-others-i-had/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b5/shirley-jackson-1526_evil_we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the_3147945.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are all measured, good or evil, by the wrong we do to others; I had made a monster and turned it loose…” — Shirley Jackson", "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": "Shirley Jackson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-jackson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We are all measured, good or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the-wrong-we-do-to-others-i-had/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-jackson/we-are-all-measured-good-or-evil-by-the-wrong-we-do-to-others-i-had/#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 } } ] } ```