I would agree with CB that it is better to think of us all as mixed bags. I do get what you mean though, Butterfly. You probably mean our "general tendencies" --- and some of us mixed bags have more nasty things mixed in than others!
I am reminded of another book I read by M. Scott Peck (2009) "Glimpses of the Devil." Whether or not you believe in the devil or in the exorcisms Peck describes, I was struck by something he reported happened during one exorcism. He asked the evil spirit about the patient's mother (whom the patient had consistently described as "evil"). The evil spirit acknowledged that the mother had been possessed ("By the time we got through with her, there was very little of her left"). Then Peck asked if the patient's father had been possessed. The evil spirit answered, "We had no hold on him, because he wasn't perfect." Peck said that he discerned a grain of truth in that statement (although it is never wise to trust an evil spirit! 
) ... because an inability to tolerate the painful pinch of conscience is what sets the truly evil apart from the rest of humanity.
Again, I'm not asking you to believe Peck's account (although I do) but rather to ponder the meaning of the reported encounter. It's only in acknowledging our imperfection that we have the capacity to be a good human being. And perhaps that is what you meant, Butterfly, when you asked about "saints"? Those of us on this board struggle with our imperfections and woundedness, as opposed to sweeping it under the rug and pretending everything is fine.
The hardest thing for me is to accept my own nature with all it's selfishness, immaturity and egocentricity. I am starting to accept my flaws as I believe as you do ,Heart. We must accept our own evil or we will project it outward. I think that was what you were saying. Peck says this.
My M did not accept her own"bad" and so threw it at me. All the disowned things she saw in me and decimated me for them. I am coming out of it now .
You can recover from an NM but it is very hard. xxxoo Ami
