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Who really said it

Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse

Attributed to Thomas Szasz 1920–2012 · Hungarian-American psychiatrist and author
Attributed In copyright

Wikiquote identifies this aphorism with Szasz’s The Second Sin (1973), page 49. The book and its date are confirmed by publisher and library records, but those records do not independently verify the words on that page.

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Unconfirmed quote & credit

“Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse” Attributed to Thomas Szasz, The Second Sin (1973), p. 49, on Wikiquote’s specific citation; original quotation page not independently inspected.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Thomas S. Szasz / the relevant publishers). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Thomas Szasz — Hungarian-American psychiatrist and author. Theme: "Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse". 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.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Collection
The Second Sin (1973)
Reported location
Page 49, according to Wikiquote
Verification limit
The original quotation page was not inspected

Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse.

The sourced aphorism

How we verified this

In copyright

The identified English collection is copyrighted 1973 by Thomas S. Szasz, as the authorized excerpt states. This brief aphorism is reproduced for attribution and discussion; the excerpt inspected does not contain this particular saying.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Context

Why it mattered

The joke turns the familiar moral warning against retaliation into a description of rationalization. Its second half explains why invoking another person’s wrongdoing can still be attractive even when it provides no ethical justification.

Szasz’s collection consists of similarly compressed observations about language, responsibility and authority. The specific page reference is useful for locating the line, but the uninspected original page remains a limit on this check.

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Filed under

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

Character Wisdom Truth

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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.

The sourced aphorismen.wikiquote.org

Wikiquote prints the exact line under The Second Sin (1973), citing page 49.
Publisher’s book and biographywww.routledge.com

The publisher identifies the 1973 collection of aphorisms and provides Szasz’s professional biography; metadata is not quotation proof.
First-edition catalog recordsearch.worldcat.org

WorldCat identifies the English first edition, Anchor Press, Garden City, 1973; it does not transcribe page 49.
Authorized excerpts and copyrightwww.szasz.com

The Szasz archive PDF contains excerpts from The Second Sin reprinted with Doubleday’s permission and a 1973 Szasz copyright notice; it does not contain the target aphorism.

The author

About Thomas Szasz

Thomas Szasz

1920–2012 · Hungarian-American psychiatrist and author

Thomas Szasz taught psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University and opposed involuntary psychiatric interventions. Alongside his longer arguments about psychiatric authority, he published compact definitions and aphorisms designed to expose evasive uses of language.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

The primary source (Chicago)

Szasz, Thomas. The Second Sin. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1973, 49, as cited by Wikiquote; original page not independently inspected.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/two-wrongs-dont-make-a-right-but-they-make-a-good-excuse/

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