Root Of All Evil Quotes & Sayings

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil. — Gautama Buddha

And they say [money's] the root of all evil. Well, Protestants say that. Catholics know better. — Hilary Mantel

Overpowered by the sadness of not knowing what there is in the world, and what I'm doing. Feeling completely indifferent to good and evil too, to beauty or anything else. I know that this is the root of all human troubles, all of them. Indifferent to that knowledge, too. Nothing got written. — Jack Kerouac

He had always disliked the people who encored a favorite air in an opera - "That just spoils it" had been his comment. But this now appeared to him as a principle of far wider application and deeper moment. This itch to have things over again, as if life were a film that could be unrolled twice or even made to work backward . . . was it possibly the root of all evil? No: of course the love of money was called that. But money itself - perhaps one valued it chiefly as a defense against chance, a security for being able to have things over again, a means of arresting the unrolling of the film. He — C.S. Lewis

The love of money is the root of all evil, therefore selfishness must be the seed. — M.D. Birmingham

Up until the twentieth century, traditional cultures (and this is still true of most cultures in the world) always believed that too high a view of yourself was the root cause of all the evil in the world. — Timothy J. Keller

Irrationality is the square root of all evil — Douglas Hofstadter

Idleness among children, as among men, is the root of all evil, and leads to no other evil more certain than ill temper. — Hannah More

Money is power, freedom, a cushion, the root of all evil, the sum of blessings. — Carl Sandburg

There's an old adage that says that money is the root of all evil. Bullshit. Lack of money is the root of all evil. — Gene Simmons

It's a cultural disability in America that we worship pleasure, leisure, and affluence. I think the church is doubly damned when they use Jesus as a vehicle for achieving all of that. Like, if you give a tithe, He'll make you rich. Why? Are you hacking Him off or something? If you give a tithe, you get rid of ten percent of the root of all evil. You should be giving ninety percent. Cause God can handle money better than we can. — Rich Mullins

It's no good to give money to anybody
who thinks money as the root of all evil. — Toba Beta

money so they say is the root of all evil today — Roger Waters

If love of money is the root of all evil, then having money is the root of all boredom. When you can have everything, you find there's nothing you really want. When you can do anything, you find there's nothing you really care to do. You become lazy. Life feels like a boulder you don't want to lift. — Neal Shusterman

In the Negro world, as in the white world, Negroes who have money band together and try to ignore the existence of their unluckier brothers. That is the way the love of money works. But neither money, nor the love of it, is the root of all evil. The importance of money is simply that power in the world does not exist without it and power in the world is what almost everyone would like to have. — James Baldwin

An inequality of property is the root and foundation of innumerable evils; it tends to derision, and to keep asunder the social feelings that should exist among the people of God. It is a principle originated in hell; it is the root of all evils. It is inequality in riches that is a great curse. — Orson Pratt

Since boredom advances and boredom is the root of all evil, no wonder, then, that the world goes backwards, that evil spreads. This can be traced back to the very beginning of the world. The gods were bored; therefore they created human beings. — Soren Kierkegaard

Boredom is a form of evil; perhaps one of Kierkegaard's characters was more correct when he said, "Boredom is the root of all evil." Boredom is a preview of death, if not itself a form of death, and when trapped in prolonged boredom, even the most saintly of us will hope for, pray for, or even engineer relief, however demonic. — Fred B. Craddock

Sexual organs are the root of all evil. — Michael Bassey Johnson

Wealth brings noble opportunities, and competence is a proper object of pursuit; but wealth, and even competence, may be bought at too high a price. Wealth itself has no moral attribute. It is not money, but the love of money, which is the root of all evil. It is the relation between wealth and the mind and the character of its possessor which is the essential thing. — George Stillman Hillard

Pchem is the root of all evil. — Daniel Lee

Beauvoir knew that the root of all evil wasn't money. No, what created and drove evil was fear. Fear of not having enough money, enough food, enough land, enough power, enough security, enough love. Fear of not getting what you want, or losing what you have. — Louise Penny

The moral victory itself may not be so moral after all, not only because suffering often has a narcissistic aspect to it, but also because it renders the victim superior, that is, better than his enemy. Yet no matter how evil your enemy is, the crucial thing is that he is human; and although incapable of loving another like ourselves, we nonetheless know that evil takes root when one man starts to think that he is better than another. — Joseph Brodsky

Ignorance: the root of all evil. — Plato

The Bible does not say money is the root of all evil; it says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. A poor man who, in his heart, worships the idea of being rich is more vulnerable to its evils than a rich man who has a heart to use it all for the Lord. — Criss Jami

Money is the root of all evil.' Then we hear, 'A fool and his money are soon parted.' What are they talking about? If money is so evil, shouldn't it be, 'A wise man and his money are soon parted'? And another thing, how does a fool get money in the first place? I know some fools who have a lot of money, but they won't tell me how they got it, and I won't tell them. — George Burns

The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it seems to me the root of all the evil that is in the world — Max Born

People commonly misquote the old Sacrinomicon and say that money is the root of all evil, which is moronic if you think about it. The real quote is that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil. Not as pithy, but a lot truer. — Brent Weeks

Just as it is the love of money that is the root of all evil, it is the belief in shamefulness that is the root of all misery. — Stephen Fry

Children are the root of all evil ... Happy the man who has his quiver empty. — William John Locke

The want of money is the root of all evil. — Samuel Butler

Everything at some point has been declared the root of all evil. — Criss Jami

For example, one dad would say, "The love of money is the root of all evil." The other said, "The lack of money is the root of all evil. — Robert T. Kiyosaki

Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil. — Plato

Money the root of all evil, unless used for good purpose — Henry Ford

Shallow breathing is the root of all evil but conscious deep breathing restores and secures our souls. — Desmond Green

The root of all evil isn't money; rather, it's not having enough money. — Gene Simmons

Overconfidence in one's own ability is the root of much evil. Vanity, egoism, is the deadliest of all characteristics. This vanity, combined with extreme ignorance of conditions the knowledge of which is the very A B C of business and of life, produces more shipwrecks and heartaches than any other part of our mental make-up. — Alice Foote MacDougall

Ego, after all, was the root of evil. — J.R. Ward

It's about panic. It's about fear. It's about instilling the American populace with terror, dread, and apprehension about the future. It's all about making you think that your way of life is "destroying the world." America is the root of all evil in the world, according to the environmentalist wackos. You, the citizens of the United States, are ruining everything. — Rush Limbaugh

Perhaps this is the root of all evil, that gardeners are not put in charge of our schools. — Helen DeWitt

I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil.
And that no one knows the truth. — Molly Ivins

It affects every aspect of our lives, is often said to be the root of all evil, and the analysis of the world that it makes possible - what we call 'the economy' - is so important to us that economists have become the high priests of our society. Yet, oddly, there is absolutely no consensus among economists about what money really is. — David Graeber

Did poverty in itself lead to moral failings, such as crime? Was "goodness" something that could be objectified and measured? Did society benefit directly from individual virtue, and therefore have incentive to promote it? Did our concepts of goodness have their foundations in religious and spiritual practice? What about the notion that money was the root of all evil, and those monks and nuns who felt it necessary to deny themselves material wealth? — Jean Thompson

An armed conflict between nations horrifies us. But the economic war is no better than an armed conflict. This is like a surgical operation. An economic war is prolonged torture. And its ravages are no less terrible than those depicted in the literature on war property so called. We think nothing of the other because we are used to its deadly effects .... The movement against war is sound. I pray for its success. But I cannot help the gnawing fear that the movement will fail if it does not touch the root of all evil-human greed. — Mahatma Gandhi

I've thrilled and shouted with patriotic pride, like everyone. Music and flags and men marching in step have bewitched me, as they do all of us. And then I've gone home and sworn to root this evil instinct out of my soul. God help us - let's love the world, love humanity - not just our own country! That's why I'm so keen about the part we're going to play at the Peace Conference. Our motto over there will be America Last! Hurrah for us, I say, for we shall be the only nation over there with absolutely no axe to grind. Nothing but a pax to grind! — Christopher Morley

The truth that I know for sure is that I may have an opinion, but I do not know the truth, and the other thing I know for sure is that certainty is the root of all ignorance and the root of all evil. — Grant Bowler

First, we should concentrate each day on the happiness portfolio: faith, family, community, and earned success through work. Teach it to those around you, and fight against the barriers to these things. Second, resist the worldly formula of misery, which is to use people and love things. Instead, remember your core values and live by the true formula: Love people and use things. Third, celebrate the free enterprise system, which creates abundance for the most people - especially the poor. But always remember that the love of money is the root of all evil, and that the ideal life requires abundance without attachment. — Arthur C. Brooks

When man has mastered money he shall have mastered not only his economic problem of prosperity but also his political problem, for he will see that money has no place in state functions, and, the money power being entirely in his own hands, he will easily master the state and clearly define its services. Thus money must be seen as the means of mastery of all economic and political problems. Until we have mastered money we shall not master any of our problems. Not money, but a false money system, is the root of all evil. — E.C. Riegel

Money was not the root of all evil, it was just a vehicle that got you to power. — J.J. McAvoy

The person who said money is the root of all evil just flat out didn't have any. — Stuart Wilde

The main misfortune, the root of all the evil to come, was the loss of confidence in the value of one's own opinion. People imagined that it was out of date to follow their own moral sense, that they must all sing in chorus, and live by other people's notions, notions that were being crammed down everybody's throat. — Boris Pasternak

Money was merely the means to an end. The true root of all evil was selfishness. — Nina Mason

Lack of money is the root of of all evil. — George Bernard Shaw

How can money be the root of all evil when shopping is the cure for all sadness? — Elizabeth Taylor

Whoever originated the cliche that money is the root of all evil knew hardly anything about the nature of evil and very little about human beings. — Eric Hoffer

Women are the root of all evil. I ought to know. I'm Evel. — Evel Knievel

The laws say that none among men may be alone, ever and at any time, for this is the great transgression and the root of all evil. — Ayn Rand

Fear is the root of all evil. Better live a single day fearlessly than living a long but fearful life. Especially, never fear another human being. Fear is the root of all relationship problems. — His Holiness Divas

Because parents have power over children. They feel they have to do what their parents say. But the love of money is the root of all evil. And this is a sweet child. And to see him turn like this, this isn't him. This is not him. — Michael Jackson

The older I get, the more apprehensive I become at the thought of losing my virginity. On the one hand, I'm ready to experience what all the fuss is about. It has to be great or it wouldn't be such a huge factor in the lives of all mankind. But that also scares me, because if I end up not liking sex, I'll be a little bit disappointed in mankind as a whole. Because it seems to be the root of a lot of evil, so if it's mediocre and I don't instantly want more of it, I'll feel a little misled by the entire world. — Colleen Hoover

In my profession more generally, it's not an exaggeration to say that masculinity is viewed as the root of all evil. If you were to take a literary theory course, you might think it would be about literature, but it's really not. It's about all the various forms of oppression on earth and how we can see them playing out in literary works. And behind all these forms of oppression is a guy. — Jonathan Gottschall

Tofu is the root of all evil, and there's only one thing that can change a man's mind, and that's a modified Uzi with an extra-long clip. — Robert Downey Jr.

I guess [Mrs. Reagan is] one of those many American adults of a certain advanced age who believe that the root of all evil lies in the area of young people's self-abuse. Someone should tell Mrs. Reagan that young people-- not even young people on drugs-- are not the ones responsible for the major problems besetting the world! — John Irving

Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes. — Louisa May Alcott

We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil. Yet we should not pass up our opportunities in that critical 3% — Donald Knuth

As covetousness is the root of all evil, so poverty is the worst of all snares. — Daniel Defoe

Boredom is the root of all evil. It is very curious that boredom, which itself has such a calm and sedate nature, can have such a capacity to initiate motion. The effect that boredom brings about is absolutely magical, but this effect is one not of attraction but of repulsion. — Soren Kierkegaard

Idleness, we are accustomed to say, is the root of all evil. To prevent this evil, work is recommended ... Idleness as such is by no means a root of evil; on the contrary, it is truly a divine life, if one is not bored ... — Soren Kierkegaard

Many people would say that money is the root of all evil, which is not entirely true. The root of all evil is ignorance, and the economic state of our society is a result of ignorance. — Joseph P. Kauffman

As long as greed is the root of all evil, there will not be peace.
Get rid of selfishness and greed too will disappear. — Zarina Bibi

Indifference to me, is the epitome of all evil. — Elie Wiesel

COKANE [looking compassionately at him] Ah, my dear fellow, the love of money is the root of all evil.
LICKCHEESE. Yes, sir; and we'd all like to have the tree growing in our garden. — George Bernard Shaw

Have you heard a story where the victim of a kidnap falls in love with the kidnapper?
When the victim is trapped in the world of her captor, she must depend on him for survival. When he treats her gently, she feels as though he is her savior. Although he is in fact the root of all evil.
All I have to do is stretch out my hand gently and you'll fall in love with me. This is the scenario. — Ai Yazawa

The lack of money is the root of all evil, Mr. Meadows. — Ilona Andrews

They do say money is the root of all evil."
I thought that was supposed to be the love of money."
There's neat for you. 'Tis them without it that loves it best. — Jamie O'Neill

Money might be the root of all evil, but two million in stolen cash was mainly a hernia risk. — Carsten Stroud

It is good for us to have trials and troubles at times, for they often remind us that we are on probation and ought not to hope in any worldly thing. It is good for us sometimes to suffer contradiction, to be misjudged by men even though we do well and mean well. These things help us to be humble and shield us from vainglory. When to all outward appearances men give us no credit, when they do not think well of us, then we are more inclined to seek God Who sees our hearts. Therefore, a man ought to root himself so firmly in God that he will not need the consolations of men. — Thomas A Kempis

We all of us carry the seed of evil in our hearts and souls," she told him. "Even the purest, even the most holy. It is part of the human condition, born into us. We cannot root it out. All we can do - at best - is prevent it from germinating. — David Gemmell

So you think that money is the root of all evil? [ ... ] Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil? — Ayn Rand

Anybody tells you that money is the root of all evil doesn't have any. — Ben Affleck

All the evils in the world come not because our desires for happiness are too strong, but because they are so weak that we settle for fleeting pleasures that do not satisfy our deepest souls, but in the end destroy them. The root of all evil is that we are the kind of people who settle for the love of money instead of the love of God (1 Timothy 6:10). — John Piper

Up until the 20th century, traditional cultures (and this is still true of most cultures in the world) always believed that too high a view of yourself was the root cause of all the evil in the world ... Our belief today
and it in deeply rooted in everything
is that people misbehave for lack of self-esteem and because they have too low a view of themselves. — Timothy Keller

Now let me ask my countrymen, Have you ever granted a moment's thought to this very vital problem in the building of our nation ? Have you devised any practical remedies to combat this evil ? Will you, my countrymen, go on without making any intelligent effort to lay the axe at the root of this weaknss and misery ? Will you allow the noted chivalry and the noble hardihood of the Indian to sink into oblivion ? Will you make it a thing entirely of the past ? I implore you, I beseech you, I exhort you my brethren in the name of all that is dearest to you to shake off the lethargy, to show to this world that you were sleeping the sleep of lions only, to rise again with redoubled energy and courage to take the work of rebuilding your nation in right earnest. — Kodi Rammurthy Naidu

Religion is not the root of all evil, for no one thing is the root of all anything. — Richard Dawkins

Money is the root of all evil. Yeah, money is the root. It's not racism and "this-ism" and "that-ism"; it's our thirst and hunger for money. And that's where all the bodies are buried. — Ice Cube

I believe that ideas such as absolute certitude, absolute exactness, final truth, etc. are figments of the imagination which should not be admissible in any field of science ... This loosening of thinking seems to me to be the greatest blessing which modern science has given to us. For the belief in a single truth and in being the possessor thereof is the root cause of all evil in the world. — Max Born

In the final analysis, each of us is responsible for what we are. We cannot blame it on our mothers, who, thanks to Freud, have replaced money as the root of all evil. — Helen Lawrenson

Covetousness is the greatest of monsters, as well as the root of all evil. — William Penn

A perception of empire is found in an early Christian acrostic. An acrostic is a word made up of the first letters of each word in a phrase or sentence. In this case, the phrase is an early Christian saying in Latin: radix omnium malorum avaritia. Radix means "root," omnium means "all," malorum means "evil," and avaritia means "avarice" (or "greed"). Putting it together, it says, "Avarice (or greed) is the root of all evil." And the first letters of each word produce Roma, the Latin spelling of Rome. It makes a striking point: Roma - empire - is the embodiment of avarice, the incarnation of greed. That's what empire is about. The embodiment of greed in domination systems is the root of all evil. — Marcus J. Borg

[If] we wish to diminish the love of money which, we are told, is the root of all evil, the first step must be the creation of a system in which everyone has enough and no one has too much. — Bertrand Russell

Lack of money is the root of all evil. — George Bernard Shaw

Premature optimization is the root of all evil. - Donald E. Knuth [ — Joshua Bloch

Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil. — Robert A. Heinlein

It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly. — Samuel Butler

I find it really hard to believe you've taken an interest in nutrition."
"True. This gluten-is-the-enemy thing is total bullshit. And don't get me started on kombucha tea, kale, anything with antioxidants in it, and the fallacy that high-fructose corn syrup is the root of all evil."
"Did you hear that Kraft Macaroni & Cheese took out all its preservatives months ago?"
"Yeah, and the bastards didn't tell anyone up front, either - — J.R. Ward

Money should never be separated from values. Detached from values it may indeed be the root of all evil. Linked effectively to social purpose it can be the root of opportunity. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Money Is The Root Of All Evil I Thought ... But When Im Broke Is Usually When I Have The Evilest Thoughts — Fabolous

He doesn't blame people for many sins, but he does hate uncoordination, the root of all evil, as he feels it, for without coordination there can be no order, no connecting. — John Updike

Or did you say it's the love of money that's the root of all evil? To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. — Ayn Rand