# Quote — M. Scott Peck, The People Of The Lie

> I have come to suspect that many cases of schizophrenia may in fact be the result of evil being passed from parents to children ... it is possible that some children, faced with the choice of either becoming evil themselves or utterly losing their minds, choose the latter.
>
> Evil is contagious. The children of the evil are often damaged for life.

- Author: [M. Scott Peck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-scott-peck.md)
- Book: [The People Of The Lie](https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-scott-peck/the-people-of-the-lie.md)
- Page: 127
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/M._Scott_Peck#People_of_the_Lie:_The_Hope_for_Healing_Human_Evil_(1983)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-scott-peck/the-people-of-the-lie/i-have-come

## More from this book

> The reality of the matter is that the naming of evil is still in a primitive stage.

p. 99 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-scott-peck/the-people-of-the-lie/the-reality-of-the.md)

> The only power that Satan has is through human belief in its lies.

p. 237 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-scott-peck/the-people-of-the-lie/the-only-power.md)

> ... As (Malachi) Martin points out, it is terribly important to understand that Satan is a spirit. I have said I have met Satan, and this is true. But it is not tangible in the way that matter is tangible. It no more has horns, hooves, and a forked tail than God has a long white beard. Even the name, Satan, is just a name we have given to something basically nameless... It is spirit.

p. 224 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/m-scott-peck/the-people-of-the-lie/as-malachi-martin.md)