List #43: Evil Made Good
The Alchemy of Art
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.” The moment we read these words from the early 20th century philosopher-mystic Simone Weil, we recognize the truth of them. In fact, great stories of evil only delight us because art is a kind of alchemy that transforms wickedness into an illuminating virtue.