Crime Times, Nov./Dec. 1988

"I think that what drives the American public, which is like a huge, lumbering beast, is anger; and the other thing that drives it is self–interest. What I'm trying to do in my books is different from other people writing about child abuse. I'm not trying to engender sympathy so much as to say to the public, 'Today's victim is tomorrow's predator.' The things that you fear have a genesis, and the price of being safe in this world is early intervention. It costs you something to look away, not just in moral terms, but in practical terms."

— Andrew Vachss

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets ""I think that what drives the American public, which is like a huge, lumbering beast, is anger; and the other thing that drives it is self–interest. What I'm trying to do in my books is different from other people writing about child abuse. I'm not trying to engender sympathy so much as to say to the public, 'Today's victim is tomorrow's predator.' The things that you fear have a genesis, and the price of being safe in this world is early intervention. It costs you something to look away, not just in moral terms, but in practical terms."" in the context of "Crime Times, Nov./Dec. 1988" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Andrew Vachss" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Andrew Vachss

About Andrew Vachss

Andrew Henry Vachss (October 19, 1942 – December 27, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths.