Evil people come from all sorts of places, often ones you wouldn't expect. We find them at our schools, at our churches and places of worship, in the homes of our friends — everywhere we look.

The true meaning of evil has been a debated issue amongst philosophers, psychologists and criminal law professionals for decades. Often a term which is hard to define, the truth is that you will know an evil person when you meet them. Those with wicked hearts can be detected easily when you know what signs to look out for.

Spot these characteristics in someone and you can be sure that whatever good is left in them, they will use it against you. There is only one solution for the evil people in our lives.

Their friends and family warn you.

A lot of the time one of the first signs that a person is truly evil is if their "friends" and family issue you warnings.

They might talk about an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend who ran from them. They might casually dismiss the problems with previous relationships and make excuses for the evil person in their lives.

This is a sort of manipulation, but it can also be seen as a warning sign of impending disaster.

In a sense, these people are telling you that something is wrong and that it's your responsibility to do something about it. Other times, the people in their lives will outright tell you that the evil person is not healthy and that you should avoid them at all costs.

In either case, don't ignore the signs of a truly evil person, especially when people who supposedly love them are tipping you off about it.

They are bad friends.

If an evil person comes to your assistance, know that they are doing it for a purpose. In other cases, they will only be there when things are going well for you.

Once things start to go sour, they're nowhere to be found.

They are racist, sexist, homophobic, or are bigots.

Evil thrives when the good are divided. This has made some of the evilest people in the world — from Hitler to Stalin to Osama bin Laden — so wildly successful. They've taken the petty differences between people and used it to sow larger and larger rifts that end up in disaster.

Often, they use bigotry, homophobia, sexism, racism, and fascism, in general, to keep good people apart, and to breed more evil people in the world.

We won't mince words here: white supremacists are evil. Racists are evil. Homophobes/transphobes are evil. And bigots, while not every time, are evil quite often.

Be conscious of these types of people. Some are only misled, but many are outright malevolent.

 They are desenitized to other types of evil.

Someone with a cold and wicked heart will not react to the evil in the world the same way that other people might. Instead of feeling moved emotionally by terrible events, they might act as if it doesn’t faze them at all. They won’t care about the suffering of the victims and their families and have no affliction to the world’s negative events.

They do not feel remorse.

When a person feels no conviction from their behaviour, it’s as if tiny a callous starts forming over their heart. Over time, their heart can be so hardened, that they have no remorse for their actions at all. If you challenge them on their behaviour, they will deflect, push it off onto you, and gaslight you into thinking the reality you know to be true isn’t actually true.

They are cruel.

Some people can be very vocal about their cruelty towards others. Cruelty can come in various forms, such as getting into fights, emotionally and physically hurting loved ones, or even hurting animals. Those who are evil, can push their cruelty too far and can do some serious damage. For example, some of these partners end up in an abusive relationship that they can never leave. If you notice this sign in someone, it’s important to remove yourself from the relationship quickly and seek support.

They belittle you.

One of the worst manipulations of an evil person is emotional manipulation. Usually, this comes in the form of being belittled.

Belittling comes in a lot of different forms too. It can be playing the victim when you haven't done anything wrong. Ridiculing your appearance, your body, your interests, your hopes, your hobbies, your goals, your friends, your house, your dreams — anything really can be belittled in the eyes of an evil person.

Don't let malevolent people change your opinion of yourself and the decisions you've made. Simply say, "I'm sorry you aren't happy with that part of my life, but it is important to me." And that's that.

They confuse and conflict.

In the same way that evil people use the aforementioned tactics to split up good people, they'll utilize chaos, confusion, and conflict to their benefit. The more scattered, scared, and unsure you are, the more power they're going to have over you.

You can fight back against this by being level-headed and secure in yourself, even when you don't fully understand what's going on in your life and your world.

Often times, evil people are the ones who are putting all that confusion and conflict into your life in the first place. Don't fall into their trap. No matter what's happening, keep a cool demeanor. Use a level-headed approach to handling conflict and confusion in your life.

 They lead double lives.

Malevolent people will never reveal their true lives to you. Saying they lead double lives is a huge understatement. They lead hundreds of lives.

They are whoever they need to be to get what they want. They are a different person to everyone. They have a well-devised history and image they are trying to portray. The only common thing about all of them is that no one truly knows who they are.

 They don't have boundaries.

Evil people are persistent, gregarious, intense, clingy, and fake. In a lot of ways, they're like boomerangs. No matter how hard you throw them out of your life, they always wind up circling back around to you.

But only if you let them. You see, an evil person will try and manipulate you into opening the door and letting them back in.

But there are dire consequences to doing this, and a malevolent person will gladly take off their jacket, kick off their shoes, and park themselves in front of the TV if you let them back in (so to speak).

One thing is certain: no matter what, when you kick an evil person out of your life, they'll always try to work their way back in. It's inevitable, but it can be prevented. No matter how persistent, gregarious, intense, clingy, and fake an evil person is, they can always always always be booted from your life for good.

They'll use every tool at their disposal to force you to let them stay. They'll manipulate, they'll lie, they'll pretend to be nice, they'll attack and belittle, they'll mislead and control.

But one thing is for sure: when you've made the call to give them the boot from your space, your circle, and your life, you can never go back on it. They'll try to get you to change your mind, but the only way to liberate yourself from them is to leave them behind.

They enjoy other peoples’ pain. 

Some people enjoy seeing people in pain (physical or emotional) but they may also do things to cause others’ pain. They struggle with sympathy and empathy and they revel in other people’s misfortune. The cold, evil heart can be dangerous because it further puts down those who are already hurt.

They are controlling and manipulative. 

Evil people want to maintain control of everything and everyone in their lives. They will often use manipulation tactics to do so; this may involve being kind to you in order to get something from you or gaslighting. They can become obsessive about controlling your life and they will never admit fault because it would ruin the illusion that they are in control.  Not complying with the wishes of an evil person can result in terrible actions being taken against you. The goal of the evil person is to control the way you feel on the inside and on the outside.

They have no humility.

Those with evil hearts are full of pride and believe that they are better than those around them. They have no sense of humility and will come off as being arrogant. They will fight hard to try and prove that they are always right and have lost the care to show kindness and empathy towards others.

They are habitually dishonest.

Let's be real. Everyone lies. We all do it. Some are little lies, others are big, big lies. But while everyone lies, not everyone is a liar.

A liar is a real special breed. They lie pathologically, constantly, and sometimes without even realizing it. An evil liar will often lie so much that their lies are what form their reality. In living a life of lies, their own minds become prisoners to their own evil behaviors.

Some evil people only lie a little bit, maybe stretching the truth to make themselves seem stronger, smarter, or better. Some evil people lie about you and others. But one thing is for sure: they are liars.

The lies serve as a tool to manipulate a reality that doesn't serve them the way they'd like. When caught in a lie, they will probably try to gaslight you, make you question reality as it is and make you continue to look to them as a source of strength when all they really are are liars.

You feel strange around them.

It's been pretty well-demonstrated that each of our bodies emits an energy field. Why that is, we're not totally clear on. It could serve as an intuitive defense system.

But in the same way that if you eat bad food, it shows on your skin; if you're evil on the inside, it shows up in your energy field.

This might be why evil people give you a creepy feeling without them having actually done anything evil to you at all. Who they are on the inside can be picked up in their subtle energy field by your energy field.

Often times, one of the surest signs of an evil person is that you just don't feel right around them. You get creepy feelings and can't quite put your finger on it.

You might sound crazy to people listening to you talk about it, but don't deny the way the evil people in our world make you feel. Trust your gut and don't worry about it steering you wrong.

If you get the wrong sense about someone, apologize. But better safe than sorry.

They mislead you.

Controlling reality is what gives an evil person most of their power. In doing so, they're able to make it conform to their petty wants and desires.

This is why evil people have a tell: they mislead you into thinking one way or another about them, about the people in your life already, and about yourself.

This misleading can come in many different forms, like misquoting, lying, or stretching the truth and twisting the facts. The end result is a world of their creation and a world that you have trouble understanding or believing in.

This is one way to spot an evil person, especially a sly one: look for ways they mislead others. If you see it, go the other direction right away.

An evil person can change, but they can only do it on their own. And you can't force them to change.

They can only change when their hearts are open, they're ready to atone for what they've done, and they're ready to work hard at reforming their malevolent ways.