The Warning

Everyone has principles until they are called upon to stand on them. Then the test begins. Even when principles hold at first, they tend to erode under the weight of time and the battle between idealism and cynicism.

Self-righteousness and blind entitlement are the toxic side effects of moral certitude and the conviction that the ends justify the means — or might makes right — because the other side is evil. Nietzsche made this point when he observed: