Insecurity twists meanings and poisons trust. In a closely beleaguered city every sentry is a potential traitor.
Graham GreeneRead
But I'm a bad priest, you see. I know--from experience--how much beauty Satan carried down with him when he fell. Nobody ever said the fallen angels were the ugly ones. Oh, no, they were just as quick and light and . . .
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the complex nature of beauty and morality, illustrating that even fallen beings can possess appealing qualities.
Graham Greene's quote explores the paradox of beauty in the context of good and evil. It suggests that the allure of fallen angels, representing temptation and sin, is not only evident but also significant; beauty does not equate to virtue, and the struggle between light and darkness is nuanced. The speaker, as a 'bad priest', reveals an understanding of this duality from personal experience, acknowledging the seductive nature of evil that often appears attractive.
Themes
BeautyEvilMoralityFallenAngelsTemptation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of good and evil.
More from Graham Greene
All quotes →It seemed to Scobie that life was immeasurably long. Couldn’t the test of man have been carried out in fewer years? Couldn’t we have committed our first major sin at seven, have ruined ourselves for love or hate at ten, have clutched at redemption on a fifteen-year-old deathbed?
Graham GreeneRead
God is love. I don't say the heart doesn't feel a taste of it, but what a taste. The smallest glass of love mixed with a pint pot of ditch-water. We wouldn't recognize that love. It might even look like hate. It would be enough to scare us - God's love.
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Of two hearts one is always warm and one is always cold: the cold heart is more precious than diamonds: the warm heart has no value and is thrown away.
Graham GreeneRead
Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.
Graham GreeneRead
Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.
Graham GreeneRead
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