Even the best can be the worst. Through us, they inevitably afflict those with whom we come into contact. We are affected by the spiritual climate inside us, and we affect others through this climate. Every culture presents spiritual danger to individuals because it inevitably excuses particular outrageous behavior. Cultures take their distinctive shape both from the excellence they display and the darkness they promote or ignore.
Most achievement is based on at least one good and one bad motivation.
No culture to date has come into existence without being based both on some virtues, and on some lies. It could be a lie about religion, or about government, or about economics, or about happiness, or about freedom, or about greed. The cultural lie ultimately endangers the culture itself. A lie is an inaccuracy or a pretense, an attempt to promote an imaginary reality as reality itself. But lies make bad foundations.