Evil always uses the same tricks

We usually imagine evil as something exceedingly cunning and unstoppable. But looked at closely, it is quite predictable: it always pulls the same levers. Vanity ("look how well you do it"), discouragement ("this has no fix"), laziness disguised as an excuse, the "anyway, just this once." Knowing the script helps you not fall. When you notice that something is pushing you to give up, compare yourself, put it off forever, or believe you are the worst in the world, you can recognize the move: you have seen it before. And what is seen coming is less frightening. It is not about obsessing over evil or seeing it everywhere. It is about not letting yourself be fooled by old tricks. Most of your temptations follow a pattern; learn it and you strip away half their power.