All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

The saying expresses a civic-moral warning: wrongdoing often prevails not only through the energy of perpetrators but through the passivity of those who recognize it yet fail to resist. It frames inaction as a form of complicity, suggesting that ethical responsibility includes active defense of justice and the common good. The line has become a staple of modern political rhetoric and moral exhortation, frequently invoked in discussions of tyranny, corruption, and bystander behavior. Although commonly attributed to Edmund Burke, scholars and quotation historians generally treat the attribution as doubtful; the idea aligns with Burkean themes about public virtue and the dangers of political apathy, but the familiar wording appears to be a later paraphrase.

1) “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
2) “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
3) “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”