We tend to think that a man like Arthur stops when he is confronted, or shamed, or made to understand the pain he causes.

He is not.

Men like Arthur understand the pain perfectly well; the pain is the point.

Confrontation does not stop them, because they have weathered a thousand confrontations and won every one.

Shame does not stop them, because they feel none.

Appeals to their better nature do not stop them, because that is precisely the part that is missing.

There is only one thing that stops a man who abuses because he believes he can do it without consequence, and it is the arrival of an actual consequence — the moment the cost of the behavior finally becomes real and personal and unavoidable to him.

For thirty-two years, Arthur’s cruelty had been free.