“On the one hand, a stupid, meaningless, worthless, evil, sick old woman—unneeded by anyone and, on the contrary, harmful to everyone, who herself doesn’t even know why she lives, and who will die of her own accord tomorrow. On the other hand, young, fresh forces that are wasted without support—thousands of them, everywhere! A hundred, a thousand good deeds and beginnings you could accomplish and improve with the old woman’s doomed money destined for a monastery! Kill her and take her money so that, with its help, later you can devote yourself to serving all humankind and the common cause: tell me—won’t one tiny crime be atoned for by thousands of good deeds? For one life—thousands of lives saved from rotting and decay. One death in exchange for a hundred lives… why, the arithmetic is clear!”
F.M. Dostoevsky «Crime and Punishment»