The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.

George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright and socialist, expressed this view in his work 'The Devil's Disciple' and other writings. Shaw consistently argued that indifference to suffering was worse than active hatred, as indifference allows evil to flourish unopposed. Somerset Maugham was a more cynical realist, while O Henry focused on twist endings and ironic situations rather than moral philosophy.