Education and evil-doing

‘Well, now,’ says Lincoln, ‘why not? Some of the greatest villains in history have been educated men. Without that education they might have been honest citizens. a few years at college won’t make a bad man virtuous; it will merely put the polish on his wickedness.’
….’Why at this rate, you will equate learning with evil-doing,’ cries someone. ‘What must your view be of our leading justices and politicians? Are they not virtuous men?’
   ‘Oh, virtuous enough,’ says Lincoln. ‘But what they would be like if they had been educated is another matter.’

Flash For Freedom!, p.127, Pan edition, 8th printing, 1980.

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Flashman, Flashman quotes,Abraham Lincoln.