“When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.”
Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer
2000s, 2001, Freedom and Democracy Are Under Attack (September 2001)
Context: I want to thank the members of Congress for their unity and support. America is united. The freedom-loving nations of the world stand by our side. This will be a monumental struggle of good versus evil. But good will prevail.
“When good people in any country cease their vigilance and struggle, then evil men prevail.”
Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973) American writer
“This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good.”
Howard Dean (1948) American political activist
His opinion of the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Remarks at a Democratic fundraiser at the home of John and Nancy Hiebert, February 25, 2005, in Lawrence, Kansas. Quoted in "Dean Roars Into Town" http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/feb/26/dean_roars_into/ by Joel Mathis, Lawrence Journal-World, February 26, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
“Evil prevails when good people do nothing.”
Erin Gruwell book The Freedom Writers Diary
Source: The Freedom Writers Diary
Al Gore (1948) 45th Vice President of the United States
Quotes, NYU Speech (2004)
Context: There is good and evil in every person. And what makes the United States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule of law and our carefully constructed system of checks and balances. Our natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have led us as a people to consistently choose good over evil in our collective aspirations more than the people of any other nation.
Dingiri Banda Wijetunga (1916–2008) President of Sri Lanka
Quoted on Archives. Daily News, "Dingiri Banda Wijetunga - the journey to greatness" http://archives.dailynews.lk/2008/09/22/fea01.asp, September 22, 2008.
James Russell Lowell The Present Crisis
St. 5
The Present Crisis (1844)
Context: Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right,
And the choice goes by forever 'twixt that darkness and that light.
John Ashcroft (1942) American politician
Testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee (6 December 2001)
George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States
2000s, 2007, Address to the Nation (January 2007)