Lets begin with a crucial point: Evil is inherently weak. ), 2 Second, at times good men are told, by God, to stand down, to do nothing, and to let evil triumph (momentarily). Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. The second sentence in the excerpt below is listed in multiple quotation references and shares some points of similarity to the saying under investigation, but it is clearly dissimilar:[4] 1770, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents by Edmund Burke, [Third edition], Page 106, Printed for J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall, London. The Only Thing Necessary for Evil to Triumph - Ted Rall's Rallblog Im not aware (nor have I been able to find in some brief checking just now) of any Bible verse that says anything like this quotation. As Americans, this is a tough principle to accept. But a truer statement has never been made, regardless of who said it. Nor any other source quoted in the quotations books Ive found. One of the most notable attributions of the quote to Burke was by President John F. Kennedy in a speech before Canadian lawmakers in Ottawa, on May 17, 1961 (here). People end up supporting evil because they dont want to make up their minds at all. You will also start receiving our free weekly posts. The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 32:27-30. (Thanks to previous researchers, e.g., Ralph Keyes, Barry Popik, and J. L. Bell. The earliest known citation showing a strong similarity to the modern quote appeared in October of 1916. (Verified on paper), 1955 November, The Rotarian, Yes, Hes a Party Hack Believes O. C. Fisher by O. C. Fisher (Member of U. S. Congress), Quote Page 9, Column 1, Published by Rotary International. But not acting is not the same as not doing.. By Charles H Norton, General Manager Collins Service. Etymologist Barry Popik has found attributions to Burke dating back to 1920. Let it alone, that is all that is required. Edmund Burke quote T-shirt. He is a good man but he does nothing. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do Im a pastor with a graduate degree in theology, and was also raised in a Bible-centric church. in History, Politics | March 13th, 2016 Comments Off on The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, a Quote Falsely Attributed to Edmund Burke. How many people could Joe Stalin have killed with no one to take his orders? While we will never fully understand Gods thoughts or ways (He Himself tells us this) we can study what He does and begin to conclude How He acts, at times. We see this in another famous story in the Old Testament, involving a man named Gideon. The following passages tells us what was going to happen, why it would happen, and what Judahs response should be: Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, Why do you prophesy as you do? They seemed to be looking past him. When I'm good, I'm very good. Welcome to the US House of Crazies Hightower Lowdown TheYale Book of Quotationsnotes the earliest attribution of this quotation to Burke at 1950 (an unsourced attribution in the Washington Post), but the most convincing possible source of the quotation suggested to date is John Stuart Mill, in an address at the University of St. Andrews in 1867: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing.