"Man must vanquish himself, must do himself violence, in order to perform the slightest action untainted by evil"

This quote by Emile M. Cioran talks to the difficulty of doing any activity without being tainted by wickedness. It recommends that in order to do something good, one should first conquer their very own inner darkness and also battle. This is an uphill struggle, as it calls for a person to do violence to themselves, to push past their own internal satanic forces and also doubts. It is a tip that even the tiniest of activities can be corrupted by evil, which it depends on us to see to it that we are not enabling our own darkness to take control. It is a reminder that we need to be watchful in our initiatives to do excellent, and that we must be willing to eliminate our very own inner darkness in order to do so.