All novelists should live in two different worlds: a real one and an unreal one.
John FowlesRead
That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be evil. But that millions had not the courage to be good.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that the real tragedy lies not in the existence of evil, but in the absence of moral courage among the masses to act with goodness.
John Fowles highlights a profound social commentary that while one individual may possess the courage to commit evil acts, it is far more alarming that the majority lack the bravery to stand up for good. This reflects on the moral responsibilities of individuals in society to confront wrongdoing and act in favor of virtue, suggesting that complacency and inaction can be just as culpable as the actions of the evildoers.
Themes
CourageEvilGoodnessSocietyMoralResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about social justice, one can refer to this quote to emphasize the need for active participation in advocating for good.
More from John Fowles
All quotes →There are many reasons why novelists write, but they all have one thing in common - a need to create an alternative world.
John FowlesRead
I love making, I love doing. I love being to the full, I love everything which is not sitting and watching and copying and dead at heart.
John FowlesRead
Do you know that every great thing in the history of art and every beautiful thing in life is actually what you call nasty or has been caused by feelings that you would call nasty? By passion, by love, by hatred, by truth. Do you know that?
John FowlesRead
The bowed head, the buried face. She is silent, she will never speak, never forgive, never reach a hand, never leave this frozen present tense. All waits, suspended. Suspended the autumn trees, the autumn sky, anonymous people. A blackbird, poor fool, sings out of season from the willows by the lake. A flight of pigeons over the houses; fragments of freedom, hazard, an anagram made flesh. And somewhere the stinging smell of burning leaves.
John FowlesRead
It came to me…that I didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world at that moment, that what I was feeling at that moment justified all I had been through, because all I had been through was my being there. I was experiencing…a new self-acceptance, a sense that I had to be this mind and this body, its vices and its virtues, and that I had no other chance or choice.
John FowlesRead
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