GOOD & EVIL

Mock the devil, and he will flee from thee. October 1, 1992 ー "U2 Finds What It's Looking For" by David Frick (Rolling Stone)

What makes man evil? If you ask a big question like that, you have to be responsible enough to follow those questions through to the people and study the people who have asked them over eons, over centuries. And you get to the great books of wisdom, and you get to the scriptures, in my case. December 1, 2002 ー Interview with Larry King (CNN)

I’m much more amazed by what people are capable of than I am by what they’re not capable of, which is to say evil doesn’t surprise me. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

I do see the good in people, but I also see the bad ー I see it in myself. I know what I’m capable of, good and bad… Just because I often find a way around the darkness doesn’t mean that I don’t know it’s there. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

I don’t see any audience as being full of anti-Christs, you have to look beneath the surface. February 1982 ー Bono: In His Own Words ー Dave Thompson (Published 1998)
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In the end, ideas are not worth as much as people. Whenever you meet a philosophy where that is not true, and where ideas are worth more than people, you have to be on your guard. A dangerous idea that almost makes sense is a compelling thing. In a way, when the devil gets it right, it’s usually not a wrong fighting a right, it’s usually two half-truths fighting it out. It’ll do the most damage. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

In the world of politics you find that evil is often not bad people, so much as it’s bureaucracy, but that doesn’t excuse them. People just disappear down the corridors of filing cabinets and they avoid their responsibilities. The sin of omission is probably the most distressing. November 16, 2004 – Interview with Jo Whiley from Hannover Quay (Dublin, Ireland)

Look: evil encroaches in tiny footsteps on every great idea. And evil can almost outrun most great ideas, but finally, in the end, there is light in the world. 2005 ー Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

I always felt like 'The Fly' was this phone call from hell. You know, with the distorted voice... It's a call from hell ー but the guy likes it there! 'Honey, I know it's hot here... but I like it!' 1996 ー U2 At The End Of The World ー Bill Flanagan

One night I was doing my Elvis-devil dance on stage with a young girl in Wales, and she said, “Are you still a believer? If so, what are you doing dressed as the devil?” I said, “Have you read The Screwtape Letters, a book by C.S. Lewis that a lot of intense Christians are plugged into? They are letters from the devil. That’s where I got the whole philosophy of mock-the-devil-and-he-will-flee-from-you.” November 1, 1994 ー “In Search Of Elvis” by Joe Jackson (The Irish Times)