Norman: Good. One less mouth to feed. Gotta keep my nose to the grindstone. Only the strong will survive.
Spider-Man: The cycle of abuse! Does it ever end? It just feeds on itself. Devours everything in its path. Even I — I feel so — so angry! The pain, it makes you do crazy things…!
Norman, essentially, built up his business and his wealth from poverty. One can assume he got through college on scholarships and numerous jobs, but he’s not from a wealthy legacy. His fortune was his doing; Norman is, contrary to surprisingly popular belief, a good businessman. Ruthless, yes — although you know, I don’t consider turning your business partner in for embezzlement all that ruthless when there was actually embezzling going on, even if you reaped the benefits of owning the entire company afterward. (Just saying.) This, of course, is also a rather literal analogy to Norman’s willingness to do anything in order to serve a grander purpose, including killing. There is, in fact, reason behind his actions.
I can’t really see “the cycle” ever ending, unless we are looking at MC2 where Normie successfully managed to rehabilitate himself after a long time trying. It’s, of course, especially true for Harry, who suffered the worst of it psychologically. It’s a poison family and they constantly and continually poison each other and those around them. As much as I love Harry, he still hasn’t overcome his demons yet (as of his most recent appearance in Amazing Spider-Man) and thus still carries the contagion. Normie has been poisoned (though it remains to be seen if Liz can cure it) but what about Stanley? Mary Jane? Lily?
The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14. Story by J.M DeMatteis and Tom Lyle, pencils by Sal Buscema.