“That was the tragedy. Not that one man had the courage to be evil. But that millions had not the courage to be good.”
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John Fowles 120
British writer 1926–2005Related quotes
“So far no one had had enough courage and intelligence to reveal me to my dear Germans.”
Letter to Carl Fuchs (14 December 1887)
Context: So far no one had had enough courage and intelligence to reveal me to my dear Germans. My problems are new, my psychological horizon frighteningly comprehensive, my language bold and clear; there may well be no books written in German which are richer in ideas and more independent than mine.
Presidential campaign (April 12, 2015 – 2016), 2016 Democratic National Convention (July 28, 2016)
Context: My friends, we've come to Philadelphia – the birthplace of our nation – because what happened in this city 240 years ago still has something to teach us today. We all know the story. But we usually focus on how it turned out - and not enough on how close that story came to never being written at all. When representatives from 13 unruly colonies met just down the road from here, some wanted to stick with the King. Some wanted to stick it to the king, and go their own way. The revolution hung in the balance. Then somehow they began listening to each other … compromising … finding common purpose. And by the time they left Philadelphia, they had begun to see themselves as one nation. That's what made it possible to stand up to a King. That took courage. They had courage. Our Founders embraced the enduring truth that we are stronger together. America is once again at a moment of reckoning. Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders, there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we all will work together so we all can rise together.
“I lived like a man who wanted to die but who had no courage to do it himself.”
Source: Interview with the Vampire
“Oh courage…oh yes! If only one had that…Then life might be livable, in spite of everything.”
Hedda, Act II
Hedda Gabler (1890)
“everybody feels the evil, but no one has courage or energy enough to seek the cure”
Source: Democracy in America
“One man with courage makes a majority.”
However, see also the attributed quote "desperate courage makes One a majority."
Attributed to Jackson by Robert F. Kennedy in his "Foreword" to the "Young Readers Memorial Edition" of John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, and by Ronald Reagan in nominating Robert Bork to the US Supreme Court, this has never been found in Jackson's writings, and there is no record of him having declared it. Somewhat similar statements are known to have been made by others:
A man with God is always in the majority. ~ John Knox
Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one. ~ Henry David Thoreau
One on God's side is a majority ~ Wendell Phillips
Misattributed
“3366. Many would be Cowards if they had Courage enough.”
Introductio ad prudentiam: Part II (1727), Gnomologia (1732)