convi(nce)ct

You know what kind of man I think you are? You're the kind of man who would stand there and smile at his torturers while they were tearing out his guts--if only he could find faith or a god.

Dostoyevsky says that a 'certain percentage' of the world's population must enter into vice so that the rest of the world may live in chaste, and ultimately be left alone. These few unfortunate souls must exist, otherwise we would all perish. The many who are alive are, in some way, survivors at all points in their lives. The few who die or are left dead are martyrs for society; they are not guilty of any crime or deserving of punishment, but simply are sacrifices, so that the rest of us may live on.

Progress is furthered and no one is the wiser.