Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn > Quotes > Quote > Anelisa liked it

“To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he's doing is good, or else that it's a well-considered act in conformity with natural law. Fortunately, it is in the nature of the human being to seek a justification for his actions...
Ideology—that is what gives the evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956