François de La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680
was a French author and moralist
We often do good in order that we may do evil with impunity.
Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662
was a French mathematician, physicist
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.
William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
was an English poet and playwright
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.The evil that men do lives after them;The good is oft interred with their bones.
( “Julius Caesar”, Act 3 scene 2, ca 1599 )
Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881
was a Scottish author, essayist, and historian
Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice; but only accident here below. Judgment for an evil thing is many times delayed some day or two, some century or two, but it is sure as life, it is sure as death.
John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873
was an English economist and philosopher
A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.