monstrosity

...there are more terrifying monstrosities in the world than Anthropophagi. Monstrosities who, with a smile and a comforting pat on the head, are willing to sacrifice a child upon the altar of their own overweening ambition and pride.

Yet, my grandfather was not a monster. He was simply a man of ordinary moral courage whose capacity for great evil was revealed to his and my everlasting shame. Labeling someone a monster implies that he is from another world, one which has nothing to do with us. It cuts off the bonds of affection and fear, assures us of our own superiority, but there's nothing learned, nothing gained. It's simple, but it's cowardly. I know now that only by empathizing with a man like my grandfather can we understand the depth of the suffering he caused. There are no monsters. The monster is us.

Listen to me,_ he said, pulling off his coat. __ou need to stay awake.__he almost laughed, a shallow chuckle cut short by pain.He tore the lining from the Colton jacket. __hat__ so funny?___ou__e a really shitty monster, August Flynn.

Happiness is a monstrosity! Punished are those who seek it.

Here there was no monster greater than the ragged mountains.