Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

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Source: Written statement in his trial for sedition (The Great Trial), March 1922; main sourced 1920s section.

About this quote

Staying silent while something wrong unfolds feels neutral, but it quietly lends the wrong your consent. Pulling that support back — refusing to sign, to laugh along, to look the other way — is not passive at all; it carries the same weight as any good deed you'd be proud of.

When to use it

  • Declining to join the group chat that piles onto one coworker, even when a laughing emoji is the easy move.
  • Reporting a falsified invoice instead of quietly initialing it and moving on.
  • Refusing to cover for a friend's cruelty just to keep the peace at the dinner table.