Who really said it

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing

Q: Did John F. Kennedy say "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"?

No. Kennedy did speak a version of this line — "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" — in his 17 May 1961 address to the Canadian Parliament, but he introduced it as words of "the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke." The problem is that Burke never wrote it either: as Quote Investigator documents, the saying appears nowhere in his works and its true author is unknown.

Not John F. Kennedy — he quoted it, crediting Edmund Burke Origin unknown — long misattributed to Edmund Burke A saying with no documented author; Burke 1729–1797

Disputed Rights unconfirmed

Kennedy did speak a version of this line — “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” — in his 17 May 1961 address to the Canadian Parliament ↗, but he introduced it as words of “the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke.” The problem is that Burke never wrote it either: as Quote Investigator ↗ documents, the saying appears nowhere in his works and its true author is unknown.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” Origin unknown — long misattributed to Edmund Burke. John F. Kennedy quoted it (crediting Burke) in his address to the Canadian Parliament, 17 May 1961.

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to John F. Kennedy. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

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In context

Evoking the world of Edmund Burke — Anglo-Irish statesman & political philosopher. Theme: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

What the record shows

Quoted by: John F. Kennedy, Address before the Canadian Parliament, Ottawa
Date: 17 May 1961
Credited by JFK to: Edmund Burke (no such line exists in Burke)
True origin: Unknown — a 20th-century adage

As the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke said, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’

Kennedy’s exact words to the Canadian Parliament, 17 May 1961 — note he attributes the line to Burke, and that his wording is “for good men to do nothing,” a hair different from the popular “that good men do nothing.”

Kennedy’s 1961 address to the Canadian Parliament (Miller Center)

How we verified this

Not in Burke. Quote Investigator ↗ finds no such passage in Burke’s works; the attribution is entrenched but unsupported, and the true author is undetermined.
How it got pinned on Burke. The 14th edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations (1968) credited Burke, citing a 1795 letter; columnist William Safire challenged it in 1980 and the 15th edition removed the citation, per Quote Investigator ↗.
The closest real precursor. Open Culture ↗ and Wikiquote point to John Stuart Mill’s 1867 St Andrews address: “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
JFK spoke it, crediting Burke. The line appears verbatim (as “for good men to do nothing”) in his 17 May 1961 Ottawa speech ↗.

The exact wording is a saying of unknown authorship — not traceable to Burke, Mill, or Kennedy as its originator — so no copyright status can be responsibly asserted for the phrase itself. (Kennedy’s 1961 speech text, where he quotes it, is a U.S. government work in the public domain, but that is a separate matter from the aphorism’s origin.)

Fact-check

Who really said it

This is one of the most misattributed sayings in English. It is routinely credited to Edmund Burke, and increasingly to John F. Kennedy because he quoted it — but neither man originated it, and no one has established who did.

Edmund Burke misattributed

The single most common attribution, yet Quote Investigator ↗ and Wikiquote ↗ confirm the line appears nowhere in Burke’s writings. A spurious 1795-letter citation in Bartlett’s was withdrawn after William Safire challenged it in 1980.

John F. Kennedy quoted, not coined

Kennedy did say it — in his 17 May 1961 address to the Canadian Parliament ↗ — but he explicitly credited “the great parliamentarian Edmund Burke,” so he was repeating a saying he believed was Burke’s, not authoring it.

John Stuart Mill closest source

The nearest documented precursor is Mill’s 1867 inaugural address at St Andrews: “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing,” per Open Culture ↗ — but this is a related thought, not the popular wording.

The true author is unknown. The earliest close match Quote Investigator found is a 1916 speech by Rev. Charles F. Aked; the polished modern wording began being pinned on Burke around 1920, and no primary Burke source has ever surfaced — see Quote Investigator ↗.

Context

Why it matters

The line is a fixture of speeches, yearbooks and political ads precisely because it feels authoritative — and attaching Burke’s name (or, lately, Kennedy’s) lends it the weight of a founding thinker. That borrowed authority is exactly what the record can’t support.

What survives scrutiny is more modest but more honest: a genuine Burke sentiment about good people needing to associate against bad ones (1770), a sharper Mill formulation (1867), and a 20th-century crystallization by an unknown hand that Kennedy helped make famous in 1961.

Kennedy said it. Burke got the credit. Neither one wrote it.

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Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

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Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Investigator: full origin investigationquoteinvestigator.com

The authoritative trace of the saying — earliest attestations, the Burke and Bartlett’s history, and the conclusion that the true author is unknown.

Wikiquote: Edmund Burke (Misattributed)en.wikiquote.org

Lists this line as misattributed to Burke and points to Mill’s 1867 address as a likely source of the idea.

Kennedy’s 1961 address to the Canadian Parliamentmillercenter.org

Primary speech text where JFK quotes the line and attributes it to Burke.

JFK Library: Address to Canadian Parliament, Ottawajfklibrary.org

Archival record of the same 17 May 1961 address.

Open Culture: falsely attributed to Burkeopenculture.com

Popular fact-check tracing the idea to John Stuart Mill’s 1867 St Andrews address.

Check Your Fact: did Burke pen this quote?checkyourfact.com

Independent fact-check reaching the same verdict: no evidence Burke wrote it.

The perennial false attribution

About the man it’s pinned on

Edmund Burke

1729–1797 · Anglo-Irish statesman & political philosopher

Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish statesman, orator and philosopher, best known for Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) and as a founder of modern conservative thought. This aphorism is the quotation most often hung on his name, yet scholars have never located it anywhere in his writings or speeches. The closest real Burke line, from his 1770 Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, reads: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary use

John F. Kennedy, “Address Before the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa,” 17 May 1961, in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1961 (Washington: GPO, 1962). Earliest documented discussion of origin: Garson O’Toole (Quote Investigator), “The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil Is that Good Men Do Nothing,” 4 December 2010.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-only-thing-necessary-for-the-triumph-of-evil-is-that