"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
chrissy
here in usenet. Usually, it is attributed to Edmund Burke, but I
wonder if anyone can confirm this by producing an actual original text
or reference from Burke's writings. I've searched through a
substantial number of volumes but I haven't found it.
Much of what Burke writes makes this point one way or another, so
perhaps he should have said it, and perhaps he did, but does anyone
know for sure?
Cheers
Chrissy
Christopher Johnson
'The Columbia World of Quotations' (1996) says of this "quote":
"Ascribed in various forms to Burke, though never found
in his writings. Possibly it is a distillation of the
words found in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present
Discontents (1770)"
(http://www.bartleby.com/66/18/9118.html)
--
Christopher
(Change 3032 to 3232 to reply by private e-mail)
Martin Ambuhl
Please don't tuck part of your question in the subject line. Subject lines
have so little to do with the content of posts that most people learn to
ignore them.
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations treats "It is necessary only for the
good man to do nothing for evil to triumph" under _Misquotations_, saying
"attributed (in a number of forms) to Burke, but not found in his writings;
cf. Burke 164:16."
[ George Seldes, who tried hard to trace down exactly what was said by
whom, where and when it was said, and the circumstances of the saying,
persists in the attribution to Burke. This is one of the few instances
in which he does not give a source. ]
Burke 164:16 is "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they
will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."
_Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents_ (1770).
Haile Selassie (do you want to quote him? Oxford doesn't.) spoke to a
special session of the UN General Assembly on 4 Oct, 1963, saying:
"Throughout hisstory it has been the inaction of those who could have
acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence
of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made possible for
evil to triumph."
--
Martin Ambuhl
John Dean
Maybe he said it. He doesn't seem to have written it down.
Nigel Rees's 'Quote Unquote' website addresses the issue:
http://www1c.btwebworld.com/quote-unquote/p0000149.htm
<< (2) 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing.'
So Edmund Burke said, or at least is often quoted as having done. Bartlett
(1968) cited it in a letter from Burke to William Smith (9 January 1795),
but on checking found that this did not exist. In his book On Language
(1980), William Safire describes his unavailing attempts to find a proper
source. In the House of Commons on 23 April 1770, Burke said 'When bad men
combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an
unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle' - which seems be heading
somewhere in the right direction (also to be found in Thoughts on the Cause
of the Present Discontents, 1770). But, for the moment, we have here
another of those quotations which arrive apparently from nowhere, and gets
quoted and re-quoted without justification. On the other hand, it is fair
to assume that Burke would not have wished to disown it.
Compare what John Stuart Mill said later in 'On Education', his inaugural
address on being installed as Rector of St Andrews University, Scotland (1
February 1867): 'Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that
good men should look on and do nothing.' >>
--
John Dean
Oxford
De-frag to reply
Adrian Bailey
news:bs9dnv$fnl$1...@news7.svr.pol.co.uk...
> Compare what John Stuart Mill said later in 'On Education', his inaugural
> address on being installed as Rector of St Andrews University, Scotland (1
> February 1867): 'Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that
> good men should look on and do nothing.' >>
That's much closer.
Adrian
meirman
<mam...@earthlink.net> posted:
>chrissy wrote:
>
>> This quote is one of the more popular quotes on the web generally and
>> here in usenet. Usually, it is attributed to Edmund Burke, but I
>> wonder if anyone can confirm this by producing an actual original text
>> or reference from Burke's writings. I've searched through a
>> substantial number of volumes but I haven't found it.
>>
>> Much of what Burke writes makes this point one way or another, so
>> perhaps he should have said it, and perhaps he did, but does anyone
>> know for sure?
>
>Please don't tuck part of your question in the subject line. Subject lines
Yes, please don't.
>have so little to do with the content of posts that most people learn to
>ignore them.
Good reason. I agree 100%.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years