“It's always the good men who do the most harm in the world.”

—  Henry Adams

As quoted in American Heritage (December 1955), p. 44
Context: I disagree with my brother Charles and Theodore Roosevelt. I think that Lee should have been hanged. It was all the worse that he was a good man and a fine character and acted conscientiously. These facts have nothing to do with the case and should not have been allowed to interfere with just penalties. It's always the good men who do the most harm in the world.

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Henry Adams 311
journalist, historian, academic, novelist 1838–1918

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