Evil does not come from man, who is good at bottom.
 Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (1862). copy citation

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Author Victor Hugo
Source Les Misérables
Topic evil good
Date 1862
Language English
Reference
Note Translation by Isabel F. Hapgood in 1887
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/135/135-h/135-h.htm

Context

“I vote for the end of afflictions and sorrows. Henceforth, there must be no sadness anywhere. Pardieu, I decree joy! Evil has no right to exist. That there should be any unhappy men is, in sooth, a disgrace to the azure of the sky. Evil does not come from man, who is good at bottom. All human miseries have for their capital and central government hell, otherwise, known as the Devil’s Tuileries. Good, here I am uttering demagogical words! As far as I am concerned, I have no longer any political opinions;” source