Bystanders quotes
71 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
"If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can't, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver."
"What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander."
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim."
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation."
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside bystanders — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"There are no innocent bystanders."
"He was breakfasting in the marketplace, and the bystanders gathered round him with cries of "dog." "It is you who are dogs," cried he, "when you stand round and watch me at my breakfast.""
"There are no innocent bystanders ... what are they doing there in the first place?"
"Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue. Every natural action is graceful; every heroic act is also decent, and causes the place and the bystanders to shine."
"The torments of martyrdom are probably most keenly felt by the bystanders."
"Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
"A person seldom falls sick but the bystanders are animated with a faint hope that he will die."
"One only wishes Wayne LaPierre and his NRA board of directors could be drafted to some of these scenes, where they would be required to put on booties and rubber gloves and help clean up the blood, the brains, and the chunks of intestine still containing the poor wads of half-digested food that were some innocent bystander's last meal."
"It is the collective responsibility of the citizens in a modern state to ensure by all means necessary that its government adheres to the rule of law, not just domestically, but internationally. There are no bystanders. No one is entitled to an 'apolitical' exemption from such obligation. Where default occurs, either by citizens endorsement of official criminality or by the failure of citizens to effectively oppose it, liability is incurred by all"
"It is not open to the cool bystander . . . to set himself up as an impartial judge of events which would never have occurred had he outstretched a helping hand in time."
"Art changes posture and posture changes innocent bystanders."
"I don't consider myself to be a crusader of any sort. I was bystander to a certain number of newspaper crusades. They end badly, in terms of being either fraudulent or by inspiring legislations that makes things worse. So, I regard myself as someone coming to the campfire with the truest possible narrative he can acquire."
"We hear the words we have spoken, feel our own blow as we give it, or read in the bystander's eyes the success or failure of our conduct."
"The honest and good man ought to be exactly like a man who smells strong, so that the bystander as soon as he comes near him must smell whether he choose or not."
"These weren't encouraged in the city, since the heft and throw of a longbow's arrow could send it through an innocent bystander a hundred yards away instead of the innocent bystander at whom it was aimed."
"Are gun rights advocates arguing that roving gangs...shooting innocent bystanders constitutes a 'well-regulated militia'?"
"The terrors of the child are quite reasonable, and add to his loveliness; for his utter ignorance and weakness, and his enchanting indignation on such a small basis of capital compel every bystander to take his part."
"I live for those rare and delicious moments when the words on the page take off and I am the bystander, watching as the tale shows me what will happen next."
"All the bystanders at an event worthy of note adopt various gestures of admiration when contemplating the occurrence."
"There's an inverse relationship between my temper and my ability to control my accent. If you hear me say 'Fiddledeedee', run for the hills, because I'm getting ready to take out bystanders."
