“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”–Edmund Burke

I found this quote, and a poem in Repairkit’s blog (repairkit.blogspot.com), which I had heard about, but not seen.

I read this poem to my husband. He is a Middle Easterner. I sometimes ask him what he thinks about something, or why he doesn’t speak up about something, and he answers, “It’s not my business.” I read him this poem and explained this is a very strong idea in American society (I’m American), and then asked him what he thought. At least he answered, “Yes, it’s true.”

Thank you to Repair Kit for sharing this excellent poem. I think I will share it with my mostly Middle-Eastern third-grade class. While teaching handwriting, I try to find inspirational messages, or useful sayings in English, for the students to copy.

Pastor Martin Niemoller, Image from World Wide Web, at:

http://www.prato.linux.it/~lmasetti/antiwarsongs/canzone.php?lang=it&id=1008

First They Came…, by Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892 – 1984)

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

I looked up Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797), who wrote the title quotation for this post. According to Wikipedia, he was “an Irish statesman, author, and orator who served for many years in the Britsh House of Commons. He is mainly remembered for his support of the American colonies in the dispute with King George III and Great Britain that led to the American Revolution and for his strong opposition to the French Revolution.”

Edmund Burke, from World Wide Web, at:

http://www.rvc.cc.il.us/faclink/pruckman/phil/burke.jpgEileen

Explore posts in the same categories: Africa, African Education Issues, American Education, American Education Issues, American History, American School, American Values, Asia, Asian Education Issues, Betrayal, Culture, Current Events, Curriculum, Curriculum Content and Issues, Dealing with Bullying, Edmund Burke, Education Issues, Elementary School Behavior, Elementary School Issues, Essays for Grade 3, European Education, European Education Issues, Feelings, Grade 1, Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade School Issues, History, Ideas, Islamic Culture, Islamic Values, Japanese Education Issues, Judaism, Judaism in the Middle East, Keeping Quiet, Martin Niemoller, Middle East, Middle Eastern Education, Name calling, Nazis, North America, North American Educational Issues, Not Speaking Up, Parenting Issues, Parents, Pastor, Philosophy of Teaching, Psychology, Remaining Silent, School Issues, Secondary School Issues, Sociology, Solutions, Solutions for Elementary Behavior Issues, South America, South American Educational Issues, Student Behavior, Student Behavior Problems, Student Problems, Student Problems with Teachers, Student Psychology, Students, Talks Between Parents and Children, Teacher Responsibility to Students, Teacher Talks with Students, Teaching About Life, Teaching Responsibility, Teaching World History in Elementary School, Third World, Thoughts, Triumph of Evil Over Good, United States, Values education, Wisdom, democracy, education, overseas education, question authority, responsibility, school, teacher, teachers, teaching, think outside the box, values

Tags: , Repairkit

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.