"It is a fact that cannot be denied: the wickedness of others becomes our own wickedness because it kindles something evil in our own hearts"
About this Quote
Jung doesn’t moralize so much as indict the reader’s alibi. The line starts like a courtroom stipulation - “a fact that cannot be denied” - then flips the charge from “them” to “us.” That rhetorical move matters: it denies the comforting fantasy that wickedness is a property some people possess, like a bad gene or a foreign passport. For Jung, evil is contagious not because it leaps bodies, but because it finds a receptor in the psyche.
The intent is clinical and unsettling. He’s describing a mechanism of projection and shadow: the traits we disown in ourselves don’t vanish; they show up as outrage, fixation, and punitive pleasure when we encounter them outside. “Kindles” is the key verb. It frames wickedness as a spark meeting dry tinder, implying preexisting material in the “heart” (Jung’s shorthand for the deep personality, not Hallmark sentiment). You don’t become wicked because someone else is wicked; you become wicked because their behavior activates your unintegrated impulses - envy, cruelty, revenge, the thrill of superiority.
The subtext is a warning about moral certainty. The more intensely you need someone else to be the villain, the more likely you’re feeding your own shadow under the banner of virtue. Contextually, this sits inside Jung’s broader project of individuation: becoming whole requires acknowledging what you’d rather outsource to “bad people.” It also reads like an afterimage of the 20th century’s mass politics, where collective hatred offered millions a sanctioned way to feel righteous while doing harm. Jung’s sting is that the enemy isn’t merely out there; they’re also an opportunity to meet your own capacity for darkness.
The intent is clinical and unsettling. He’s describing a mechanism of projection and shadow: the traits we disown in ourselves don’t vanish; they show up as outrage, fixation, and punitive pleasure when we encounter them outside. “Kindles” is the key verb. It frames wickedness as a spark meeting dry tinder, implying preexisting material in the “heart” (Jung’s shorthand for the deep personality, not Hallmark sentiment). You don’t become wicked because someone else is wicked; you become wicked because their behavior activates your unintegrated impulses - envy, cruelty, revenge, the thrill of superiority.
The subtext is a warning about moral certainty. The more intensely you need someone else to be the villain, the more likely you’re feeding your own shadow under the banner of virtue. Contextually, this sits inside Jung’s broader project of individuation: becoming whole requires acknowledging what you’d rather outsource to “bad people.” It also reads like an afterimage of the 20th century’s mass politics, where collective hatred offered millions a sanctioned way to feel righteous while doing harm. Jung’s sting is that the enemy isn’t merely out there; they’re also an opportunity to meet your own capacity for darkness.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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