A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing as they must if they believe they can do nothing. There is nothing worse because the council of despair is declaration of irresponsibility; it is Pilate washing his hands.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of action against evil and the consequences of inaction by good individuals.
Edmund Burke's quote highlights that in order for evil to triumph, it requires the passive complicity of those who have the ability to resist or confront it. It serves as a powerful reminder that doing nothing in the face of injustice is itself a form of irresponsibility, akin to abdicating one’s moral duty, and underscores the necessity of taking action to combat wrongdoing rather than succumbing to despair.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about social justice to inspire activism.
A great empire and little minds go ill together.
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.
Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Ask for work. If they don't give you work, ask for bread. If they do not give you work or bread, then take bread.
[Oppose] with manly firmness [any] invasions on the rights of the people.
Looking back, I call the first month after my diagnosis 'the cancer bubble' because I wasn't showing obvious signs of my disease. I looked about the same - maybe a little more tired and pale than usual, but a stranger could never have guessed that I carried a secret, deep in my bones.
Some boys accepted me, some didn't. And my family had comments made to them. Brazil is still a very macho society, and sports are mainly for boys, so people would say to them: 'What is this girl doing? Why is she always out there in the soccer games with the boys?'
The men of Texas deserved much credit, but more was due the women. Armed men facing a foe could not but be brave; but the women, with their little children around them, without means of defense or power to resist, faced danger and death with unflinching courage.
There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life.
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