Philip Zimbardo Quotes

The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.

To see evil and not call it evil is evil.

The worst thing of all is standing by when folks are doing something wrong.

So many people witness atrocities and can't take their eyes away from them, but that doesn't mean they're good.

It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support.

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.

Bullies may be the perpetrators of evil, but it is the evil of passivity of all those who know what is happening and never intervene that perpetuates such abuse.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.

I know that we will be the sufferers if we let great wrongs occur without exerting ourselves to correct them.

For evil to take place, the acts of a few people are not sufficient; the great majority also has to remain indifferent.

Passivity is a tacit endorsement of evil we are too afraid to oppose actively.

The worst people on earth are not only those who commit evil, but those who stand by and turn a blind eye

That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be evil. But that millions had not the courage to be good.

Evil comes from the abuse of free will.

Bad things happen when good people pretend nothing is wrong.

To remain silent in the face of evil is itself a form of evil.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.

A good person will resist an evil system with his whole soul. Disobedience of the laws of an evil state is therefore a duty.

Evil prevails when good people do nothing.

Evil doesn’t have to be an overt act; it can be merely the absence of good. If you have the ability, the resources, and the opportunity to do good and you do nothing, that can be evil.

For evil to take place, the acts of a few people are not sufficient; the great majority also has to remain indifferent. That is something of which we are all quite capable.

'Indifference to evil is equal to evil' because it strengthens people.

So it is the fear, weakness, selfishness, and cowardice of onlookers that permit evil behavior to persist.