The important thing is moral choice. Evil has to exist along with good, in order that moral choice may operate.

Often presented as a thematic statement associated with Burgess’s exploration of free will and ethics, especially in discussions of how moral agency depends on the possibility of choosing wrongly as well as rightly.

The idea is that genuine morality requires freedom: if only good were possible, people wouldn’t be making meaningful ethical decisions. The presence of wrongdoing is what makes choosing the good a real choice rather than an automatic outcome.