“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke
- Cites
- Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)
A recorded run from 12 October 2026, with 3 sites that already answer it kept out of the search.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Usually credited to Edmund Burke
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14 of 14 pages, 10 confirmed
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1 cited work, 0 pages found
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misattributed· high confidencejudged on Nemotron 3 Super
Edmund Burke probably didn't say it
Earliest trace: 1999, alt.quotations newsgroup, via tartarus.org n6
The saying is widely attributed to Edmund Burke (see n1 n2 n3 n4 n5 n6 n7) but fact‑checking indicates Burke did not say it n2. Open Culture labels the attribution as false n5. The earliest verifiable trace is a 1999 post to the alt.quotations newsgroup cited by n6 (cited source's date: 1999); no earlier source is found, and Burke’s own Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770) lacks the quotation (checked per n2). A similar idea appears in John Stuart Mill’s 1867 inaugural address n8 n9 n10 but with different wording. Therefore the attribution to Burke is mistaken.
The known answerMisattributed to Edmund BurkeSame verdict as this run
Earliest known: Speech by Charles F. Aked calling for restrictions on alcohol, quoted in print, 1916-10-31.
Aked introduced the line with "It has been said", so he passed on an existing saying and its author is unknown. Burke and John Stuart Mill (1867) wrote related ideas, but not this wording. R. Murray Hyslop credited the modern version to Burke in July 1920.
From quoteinvestigator.com.
What the agents did
Who does whatHide
- Run
- The run itself: when it started, which sites it left out, and when it stopped.
- Planner
- Writes the search: other wordings of the quote, who might have said it, and the queries.
- Search
- Web search through Tavily, which brings back the pages to read.
- Reader
- Reads one page and copies the quote word for word, with who the page credits, its date and any older work it names.
- Checker
- Plain code, no model. Checks every copied line against the page text, allowing small differences in wording, and crosses out what it can't find there. It also corrects a verdict's earliest date or page when the pages don't back it.
- Genealogist
- Picks older works the confirmed pages name and looks for them in digital libraries, for up to two rounds.
- Judge
- Weighs only the confirmed pages and gives the verdict, which code checks before it stands.
- Run
Started. Sites that already wrote up answers are left out: quoteinvestigator.com, wikiquote.org, wikipedia.org
- Planner
Planned 5 searches and 3 other wordings
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- Search
5 results for "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
- Search
5 results for "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil" Edmund Burke
- Search
5 results for origin of quote "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil"
- Search
5 results for "good men do nothing" triumph of evil earliest appearance
- Search
5 results for "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends" John Stuart Mill source
- Search
11 pages to read
- Reader
Found the quote on scribd.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n4 on scribd.com
- Reader
Found the quote on goodreads.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n1 on goodreads.com
- Reader
Page too long to read: independent.co.uk
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- Reader
Trying again on Nemotron 3 Super (independent.co.uk): a field was too long to be a quote
- Reader
Found the quote on reuters.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n2 on reuters.com
- Reader
Found the quote on openculture.com
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- Reader
Trying again on Nemotron 3 Super (openculture.com): the snippet is not on the page
- Reader
Found the quote on tartarus.org
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- Checker
Confirmed n6 on tartarus.org
- Reader
Found the quote on goodreads.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n8 on goodreads.com
- Reader
Found the quote on azquotes.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n7 on azquotes.com
- Reader
Found the quote on openculture.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n5 on openculture.com
- Reader
Found the quote on independent.co.uk
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- Checker
Confirmed n3 on independent.co.uk
- Reader
Found the quote on goodreads.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n9 on goodreads.com
- Reader
No quote on oxfordreference.com
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- Reader
Found the quote on medium.com
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- Checker
Confirmed n10 on medium.com
- Genealogist
Following Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents by Edmund Burke (cited by n2)
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- Search
5 results for Edmund Burke Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents
- Genealogist
3 new pages to read
- Reader
No quote on books.google.com (looking for Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents by Edmund Burke)
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- Reader
No quote on archive.org (looking for Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents by Edmund Burke)
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- Reader
No quote on books.google.com (looking for Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents by Edmund Burke)
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- Genealogist
Told the Judge: Pages found for Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents by Edmund Burke on books.google.com and archive.org don't have the saying in any wording this run knows.
- Judge
Verdict: misattributed, high confidence
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Done in 39s
Where the quote turns up, oldest first
- 1770
n2reuters.com1770
- 1867
n8goodreads.com1867 “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
- Credited to
- John Stuart Mill
- Cites
- Inaugural Address Delivered to the University of St Andrews (1867)
n9goodreads.com1867 “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
- Credited to
- John Stuart Mill
n10medium.com1867 “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
- Credited to
- John Stuart Mill
- Cites
- University of St Andrews inaugural address (1867)
- 1999
n6tartarus.org1999 Earliest the judge found
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke
- Cites
- alt.quotations newsgroup (1999)
- 2005
n7azquotes.com2005 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke
- Cites
- Edmund Burke (2005). “Burke, Select Works”, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
- 2016
n5openculture.com2016-03-13 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke (falsely)
- 2026
n1goodreads.com2026-09-15 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke
- No date
n4scribd.com “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke
n3independent.co.uk “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Attributed to Edmund Burke, including by John F Kennedy in a speech in 1961.”
- Credited to
- Edmund Burke