Pride and ambition can drive people to pursue justice into ruin

Evidence

“All this paper,” said Schlichtmann, more to himself than to Crowley. “It represents nine years of my life. Why did I do it?” He paused for a moment and then answered his own question. “Pride, greed, ambition. Getting rich by doing good.” … “I’m thirty-nine years old,” continued Schlichtmann, “and I’ve dug one fucking big hole. A man couldn’t dig a bigger hole.” — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 3141

Categorization

• APHORISMS: ‘Getting rich by doing good’ names the exact self-deception available to anyone who monetizes a moral cause.
• DEEPTHINKING: The admission that altruism and self-interest were fused rather than opposed resists the easy verdict of either saint or profiteer — it sticks because he can’t separate them either.