> It may very well have been the case, that without the bad, there could never have been the good - they were inexorably linked.

I think there's something important to this notion. I once read a biography of Churchill that suggested Churchill's distrust of Hitler in the 1930's partly sprang from Churchill being the kind of egomaniac who could recognize an egomaniac. I'm sure I've done neither Churchill nor the book justice in this description, but I think there's support for the notion that personality doesn't simply or easily decompose into good parts and bad parts.

[1] 'The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-1940', William Manchester