Who said it?

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
It is often mis-attributed to Edmund Burke.
Zendam reports:
There is no record that Burke said this. The quotation became popular after John F. Kennedy began using it in speeches but after careful research by many persons, no source could be found. Bartlett's discontinued attributing the saying to Burke.
Check this previous post:
http://forum.quoteland.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=586192041&f=099191541&m=4361979516&r=9991969516#9991969516

Also, check out this page for more info:
http://www.tartarus.org/~martin/essays/burkequote.html

There is also this, by Burke:

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
- Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

A short while back I've added this info to Quoteland's list of quotes at
http://quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=66

quote:

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possible source for the famous quotation attributed to Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." See also Plato's quotation in topic 'apathy'

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I never found a source for the Plato quote, it appears to be another case of he "once said" it. But, it's all over the Internet so I decided to add it.

quote:

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"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
-Plato
http://quoteland.com/topic.asp?CATEGORY_ID=331

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"It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong." -- Voltaire

Great article!
Then They Came for the Gypsies: The Legacy of Death's Calculator
By Edwin Black
http://www.fpp.co.uk/Auschwitz/Gypsies/IBM_Hollerith.html

[This message was edited by thenostromo on 02-27-06 at 07:24 PM.]

"the gypsies were the first to be taken by the nazis, and noone spoke for them to defend them. then the nazis began to kill the jews, but noone cared either. then the nazis came for me, by then there was nobody left to speak for me."
does anybody know this paraphrased quote. i seem to vaguely recall the "me" in the quote was a frenchman speaking to a American GI during WWII.
Waiting, nonemjet.

Welcome nonemjet!
Attributed to Martin Niemöller, see here;

http://www.quoteland.com/author.asp?AUTHOR_ID=35

thanks for the quick response, i see i was a little off on the origins of the quote, i stand corrected.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.~Thomas Jefferson

As regards Burke, see here:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Edmund_Burke
http://tartarus.org/~martin/essays/burkequote.html