Think about the people who did the most evil things you can think of. Were they really certain they were fighting evil? Contrast with people who you think were admirable. Did they think they were fighting evil?
These are aphorisms, not essays. You either recognize (high-level) wisdom in them, or you don't.
That's a good observation. I agree that it's reasonable to treat them as aphorisms.
But even if we allow for a certain amount of hyperbole in aphorisms, I would think there's some threshold of factual accuracy that we want before accepting a given aphorism.
That, and simple curiosity, are what motivated my original question.
These are aphorisms, not essays. You either recognize (high-level) wisdom in them, or you don't.