Evil people Quote by Daniel Ellsberg
““We humans almost universally have a false self-image of our species. We think that monstrous, wicked policies must be, can only be, conceived and directed and carried out by monsters, wicked or evil people, or highly aberrant, clinically “disturbed” people. People not like “us.” That is mistaken. Those who have created a continuing nuclear threat to the existence of humanity have been normal, ordinary politicians, analysts, and military strategists. To them and to their subordinates, Hannah Arendt’s controversial proposition regarding the “banality of evil” I believe applies, though it might better have been stated as the “banality of evildoing, and of most evildoers.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Pentagon Papers, 1971
Ordinary people can commit great harms when bureaucratic systems normalize evil actions.
In simple terms: Normal people can do evil.
Key Takeaway
Beware systemic complacency.
Themes
ethics
politics
human nature
Mood
cautious
reflective
Type
analytical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- government policy
- military planning
- corporate decision making
- public administration
Key Concepts
banality of evil
bureaucracy
moral responsibility
Questions to Reflect On
- How does bureaucracy enable wrongdoing?
- Can ordinary citizens resist systemic evil?
A Different Perspective
It may overlook individual agency and the role of ideology.
![“[About Eichmann:] It was as though in those last minutes he was summing up the lesson that this long course in human wickedness had taught us - the lesson of the fearsome, word-and-thought-defying banality of evil.” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/943/hannah-arendt-610_banality_about-eichmann-it-was-as-though-in-those_3183054.jpg)
