John Banville on Malice

“To hurt other people is the worst thing you can do. To be hurt oneself is bad enough, but hurting other people is unforgivable… Unforgivable. Literally unforgivable. I think that one has to take responsibility for one’s life and one has to take responsibility for one’s bad deeds as well as one’s good deeds. One has to, as I say, be responsible… Failure in art, or failure in making a living, or a success — none of them compares, everything pales beside hurting other people, because, you know, we are here for such a short time and basic life itself is so hard one has a duty to try to be decent to other people”.

~ John Banville | Wikipedia