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4. It is no sin to think that another is wicked or has committed a sin if we know it to be a fact. Nor are we obliged to think that all men are good until we know something to the contrary. We may suspend our judgement about such as we do not know sufficiently well to be able to say whether they are good or bad. We know, moreover, that there are many bad people in the world, and prudence suggests that we should be on our guard against all whom we do not know well, though justice and charity incline us to think no evil of anyone.
Rash judgements frequently arise from the malice of our own hearts, or from hatred and envy.[1] If we purify our own hearts from vice and wickedness, we shall think kindlier thoughts of others.
- ↑ Rom. ii i.
