A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

And Evil. Some people appear to have an unexplainable desire to do evil. But for what? Can we know what evil is? What are the signs of evil? The desire to destroy is evil – unexplainable, wanton destructiveness. But even that is not categorical, is it? Most of history is written about destruction, not creation. Records are kept of wars, of the decay of civilisations, of murders and deaths, of men like Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler, and others who built enormous empires on their abilities to destroy. But in a sense, destruction is a means of creation. When a vandal knocks in the side of a telephone booth, or scratches his name on the side of a subway car, he is leaving his mark. He is, whether he knows it or not, attempting to show that he exists and that he has the ability to affect things, and to change things. Destructive violence is a way of saying, ‘Look, I am here.’ That’s the easy way. That’s negative creation. Positive creation is much more difficult – it requires patience and talent.