"Frequently, trolls are unaware of the damage they're causing. A cornered mongoose doesn't really want to rip you to pieces; it just wants to get away. So too, a destructive person will usually deny wanting to cause pain. Such people really want something else, usually the things which all people want and need: self-fulfillment, validation, a feeling of security, and so on. It's just that trolls have extremely unhealthy ways to go about getting these things. And when they do get them, their insecurity convinces them it won't last, so they'd better get more. This is the key in a nutshell: trolls are not healthy people, so they can't be expected to act in mature and healthy ways. And treating them as if they were mature and healthy is like treating a cornered mongoose as if it was a beloved housecat. The results are not pretty." -- David Petterson, "How to Keep Your Coven from Being Destroyed" (2002) [I should probably note that 'trolls' in this context refers to a larger category of which Internet trolls are just one subclass, rather than Internet trolls in particular being the main subject here.]

( Thanks to </a></b></a>shamangirl, by way of whose journal I saw it.)