There's no difference between a pessimist who says, "Oh it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything." and an optimist who says, "Don't bother doing anything, it's going to turn out fine anyways. Either way, nothing happens."
Yvon ChouinardRead
Evil doesn’t have to be an overt act; it can be merely the absence of good. If you have the ability, the resources, and the opportunity to do good and you do nothing, that can be evil.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Evil can manifest not just through direct harmful actions, but also through inaction when one has the means to do good.
This quote by Yvon Chouinard emphasizes the idea that simply refraining from doing good can be considered an evil act. It challenges the notion that evil is only associated with overtly negative actions, suggesting that a lack of action in the face of an opportunity to help can be equally culpable. This perspective invites individuals to reflect on their responsibilities towards societal good and highlights the moral implications of inaction.
Themes
EvilGoodInactionResponsibilityMoralPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on social responsibility, a speaker may quote this to emphasize the importance of taking action against injustices.
More from Yvon Chouinard
All quotes →I think risk is important. I don't care if it's a great financial risk or a physical risk. You only get out of something what you put into it and the fact that you are willing to risk something means that you are going to get a lot more out of it.
Yvon ChouinardRead
The solution may be for a lot of the world's problems is to turn around and take a forward step. You can't just keep trying to make a flawed system work.
Yvon ChouinardRead
We're a part of nature. As we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. It's a selfish thing to want to protect nature.
Yvon ChouinardRead
The future of Yosemite climbing lies not in Yosemite, but in using the new techniques in the great granite ranges of the world.
Yvon ChouinardRead
The reason it was so scary was that there was only one climber capable of rescuing us, and that was Layton Kor, and he was in Colorado.
Yvon ChouinardRead
Similar quotes
The quality of mercy is not strained
William ShakespeareRead
I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
The more things I threw away, the more I found.
Don DelilloRead
I have had the good fortune through my God that I should never abandon his people whom I have acquired in the extremities of the earth.
Saint PatrickRead
For a lot of white people, just suggesting that being white has meaning will trigger a deep, defensive response. And that defensiveness serves to maintain both our comfort and our positions in a racially inequitable society from which we benefit.
Robin DiangeloRead
Where constraint breaks people, and mediation makes fools of them, the seduction of power is what makes them love their oppression. Because of it, people give up their real riches for a cause that mutilates them; for an appearance that reifies them; for roles that wrest them from authentic life; for a time whose passage defines and confines them.
Raoul VaneigemRead