When I was a kid, I once watched a talk show (I think it was Phil Donahue) where a man who was so horrible to his family snapped at Phil and the audience: “Shut up! You don’t know me!  What does anyone know?  Deep down inside I am a really nice person!”  It took my breath away to realize that he actually believed this about himself.  That despite all of his terrible behaviours and deeds, he truly believed this about himself.  And in that moment of epiphany I realized probably everyone does.  No matter how rotten or heinous.  As I grew up and paid attention, I could see over and over that even the worst villians and monsters among us feel that “deep down inside I am great/good”.  They often feel so misunderstood when in fact it is they who understand little about themselves.

I truly see that only being good (or kind/honest/honourable and whatever other great quality one might think they have) “deep down inside” isn’t enough.  No one is perfect, especially a creature like me, but I try to live up to that understanding.