A Choice of Soil: How A Person Becomes Good Or Evil 

Every human life, at its root, is lived in one of two soils. These are not mere habits, nor passing moods, but fundamental stances toward existence: the soil of good, and the soil of evil. Upon this choice rests everything. From this ground, each life grows into its specific form—some into towering oaks of virtue, others into twisted thorns of destruction.

1. The Initial Decision: Which Soil to Live In

At the core, man must decide: will I orient my life toward what is good, or toward what is evil?

Good is not naïve. It is not blind optimism or mere niceness. Good is the deliberate commitment to live in harmony with truth, to will the flourishing of others alongside one’s own, to protect rather than exploit, to create rather than destroy.

Evil is the opposite soil. It is the rejection of responsibility, the refusal of truth, the pursuit of one’s own desires even at the expense of others. It can begin in small indulgences—a lie, a theft, a cruelty—but once chosen, the soil nourishes those seeds into larger growth. Evil is not a single act but an orientation: the soil in which one agrees to dwell.

2. How the Soil Specifies

Once the soil is chosen, the form it takes in a particular life is shaped by three main forces:

1. Character & Desires – Each person has particular inclinations. One who delights in violence may become a murderer; one who delights in deception may become a fraudster; one who delights in domination may become a predator. The soil feeds the tendency.

2. Circumstances & Opportunities – Evil does not grow in abstraction. It adapts to available openings. A man who lives in poverty may rob. A man with access to children may abuse. A man with political power may become a tyrant.

3. Will & Reinforcement – Choices reinforce themselves. Each decision deepens the soil’s hold. Small cruelties normalize larger ones. Likewise, small acts of goodness train the will toward greater virtue.

Thus evil does not usually appear suddenly. It is cultivated—sometimes slowly, sometimes rapidly—but always by consent of the will.

3. The Soil of Good

The soil of good works in parallel. Those who decide to live in it find their desires, character, and opportunities shaping toward the noble.

The compassionate may become healers—doctors, nurses, caretakers.

The courageous may become protectors—soldiers, police, firefighters.

The wise may become teachers, guides, philosophers.

The nurturing may become devoted parents or friends.

Good is no less real than evil, and it too specifies itself according to character and circumstance. It grows into communities, into art, into service, into sacrifice. It is just as creative and varied as evil—indeed more so, for evil ultimately only consumes, while good creates.

4. The Mirror of Evil and Good

Both soils are mirrors of one another. For every destroyer there is a builder; for every predator, a protector; for every liar, a truth-teller.

The fraudster, exploiting trust, is mirrored by the faithful friend.

The murderer, who ends life, is mirrored by the doctor, who saves it.

The predator, who corrupts innocence, is mirrored by the father, who guards it.

The soil of good and the soil of evil do not merely coexist—they define each other. The presence of evil makes goodness necessary; the presence of good reveals evil as evil.

5. The Fundamental Choice

Thus the most important choice any human being makes is not career, partner, or philosophy, but this: Which soil will I live in?

It is the soil that determines the shape of the tree. A tree in evil soil will grow twisted no matter its gifts; a tree in good soil will bear fruit even if small.

And though the world debates endlessly about systems, circumstances, and psychology, in the end, the first and deepest fact remains: good and evil are real orientations of the will. Every life testifies to this truth.

6. Consequences and Legacy

The soil does not only shape the individual—it shapes the world they touch. Evil spreads like infection; good spreads like healing. Each choice contributes to the future of humanity itself.

Some lives leave behind wreckage: families destroyed, trust shattered, blood spilled. Others leave behind legacies: knowledge, love, children, safety, peace. The soil chosen at the beginning echoes for generations after a man is gone.

—

Conclusion

The soil of good and evil is the true ground of philosophy and psychology alike. It explains why some become healers and others destroyers; why some nurture and others exploit; why history shows both tyrants and saints.

We do not control every detail of our desires or opportunities, but we do control the soil in which we plant them. That initial choice—to live in good, or to live in evil—determines everything that follows.

The task of philosophy, then, is not only to refine the highest truths, but to remind men of this primal choice. For every life is a seed—and every seed must choose its soil.