. . . That was revealed to Solzhenitsyn when he felt within himself the first stirrings of good. And in that chapter, the old Russian elaborated other truths about good and evil.
Not only does the line separating them not pass between political or cultural or ethnic groupings, but right through every human heart, through all human hearts. He adds that for any individual over the years, this separation line within the heart shifts, oscillates somewhat. That even in hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead to good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains an un-uprooted small corner of evil.
There is some good and some evil in all of us, and that's Stoic doctrine.
In that same chapter, Solzhenitsyn comments: "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being, and who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"
I just want you to know that I connect with that. . . .
—from James B. Stockdale, The Stoic Warrior's Triad
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