[Abbé Faria:] "I regret having helped you in your investigation and said what I did to you," he remarked.
"Why is that?" Dantès asked.
"Because I have insinuated a feeling into your heart that was not previously there: the desire for revenge." (17.193-195)
Though knowledge is usually thought to lead to understanding, sometimes it has darker consequences. Do you think the abbé is responsible for what Edmond becomes? Would Edmond have gone to such lengths to seek revenge if he had never met Abbé Faria?
Quote 2
"Misfortune is needed to plumb certain mysterious depths in the understanding of men; pressure is needed to explode the charge. My captivity concentrated all my faculties on a single point. They had previously been dispersed, now they clashed in a narrow space; and, as you know, the clash of clouds produces electricity, electricity produces lightning and lightning gives light." (Abbé Faria) (17.45)
As far as Abbé Faria sees it, a man can only truly exert himself – or, rather, he can put his energy to better use – when given something to work against.
Quote 3
"If you wish to find the guilty party, first discover whose interests the crime serves! Whose interests might be served by your disappearance?" (17.57)
Abbé Faria succinctly explains the origins of much envy and discord.