I’d rather be a live pessimist than a dead comedian. - Jack Vance

"At Gundar we conceive 'innocence' as a positive quality, not merely an insipid absence of guilt," stated the Nolde. "We are not the fools that certain untidy ruffians might suppose."

A troubled society is like a man with a stomach-ache. When he purges himself, he improves.

You emphasize morality. But the ultimate basis of morality is survival. What promotes survival is good; what induces mortifaction is bad.