"Evil prevails when good men do nothing"?

Question

can someone interpret this quote?? or give me an example of what it means??
I have to write a paper on it and apply it to the movie "The Kingdom".

Answer 1

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The eighteenth century Irish statesman, philosopher and political theorist, Edmund Burke, is credited with the remark that "evil prevails when good men do nothing". Some have said that the quote was actually "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

In either case, it means that evil will win if good people do nothing.

Of course, the vexing, unsolved problem is to determine who or what is "evil" and who or what is "good." I, for one, often fear those in the world who are sure that they are "good" and are equally sure that those who oppose them are "evil."

Source(s):

http://www.church.org.uk/resources/csdet…

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Latin-2145/qo…

Answer 2

This qoute means if there are no good people in the world to stop the bad people, evil will take over. Good men protect against the doings of evil people. If these good men do nothing, evil wins.

Answer 3

If you see where some evil or wrong doing is taking place and you can do some thing to change it and don't then that "evil will prevail" it could be on your job, in your family, in any situation. If you are where you can make a difference for the better and don't , your'e not considered "good" That's my take oni it.