->''"Laugh, and the world laughs with you;\\
weep, and you weep alone.\\
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,\\
but has trouble enough of its own."''
-->-- '''Solitude''', ''Ella Wheeler Wilcox''

->'''Security Guard''': What's the matter with you, mister?? All you hadda do was trip him! Or hold him for just a minute!
->'''Spider-Man''': Sorry, pal! That's ''your'' job!
-->--''[[ComicBook/SpiderMan Amazing Fantasy]] [[ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15 #15]]''

->''Everybody's gay, with other people's asses.''
-->--CatchPhrase by comedian '''Enrique Balbontin'''

->''We'll just pass him there / Why should we even care?''
-->--'''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LjbMVXj0F8 Iron Man]]''', ''Music/BlackSabbath''

->''Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.''
-->-- The '''Monsignor''', ''Film/TheBoondockSaints''

->''It's a very tragic event, okay? But the simple fact remains I do not know this little girl. I do not know starving children in Panama. I do not know people who die of disease in Egypt. The only person I knew in this event was Jeremy Strohmeyer and I know as his best friend that he had potential. I'm sad that I lost a best friend.''
-->--'''David Cash''', on why he accepts no blame for not stopping his friend from molesting and murdering a little girl

->''...and in this footage you can see various pedestrians who clearly don't give a shit that somebody near them just collapsed and died.''
--> -- '''[[Manga/DeathNote L]]''', ''[[WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeries1KidsEntertainment Death Note: The Abridged Series]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g5C0EvT01k&feature=PlayList&p=03389DC24AABE458&index=6 (1KidsEntertainment)]]''

->'''Raye Penber:''' I'm dying! Somebody help me!
->'''Random Pedestrian 1:''' [[{{Wangst}} Shut up]] {{Emo}}!
->'''Random Pedestrian 2:''' We have problems too, you know.
--> -- ''[[WebVideo/DeathNoteAbridgedDogface701 Death Note: The Abridged Series (Dogface701)]]''

->''The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who stand by and do nothing.''
-->-- '''UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein'''

->''"I thought I heard a ruckus downstairs a minute ago. Do you know what that was all about?"\\
"No idea. But no need to worry because everything above the 60th floor is safe."''
-->-- Two '''unnamed citizens''', overheard on the 61st floor by the people who caused said ruckus, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

->''The great thing about [invading] your species, Dib, is that most of them don't notice.''
-->--'''Tak''', ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim''

->''And no one cares. You kick and scream and cry out into the darkness, and no one comes. You rage against the unfathomable injustice and two blocks away some guy watches a baseball game and scratches his balls.''
->''Scientists talk about dark matter, the invisible, mysterious substance that occupies the space between the stars. Dark matter makes up 99.99 percent of the universe, and they don’t know what it is. Well I know. it's apathy. That's the truth of it; pile together everything we know and care about in the universe and it will still be nothing more than a tiny speck in the middle of a vast black ocean of Who Gives A Fuck.''
-->-- '''David Wong,''' ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd''

->''Three assholes laying into a guy while everyone else watches, and you want to know what's wrong with'' me?
-->--'''Film/KickAss''', thoroughly ''averting'' this trope

->''When I was a child, a group of boys were caught stealing from the local shop. My father was furious when he found out. I protested to him "But I didn't take anything". Maybe not he said, but... you were there. My name is Peter Müller, Commander of Tiger tank number 237. And I was there.''
-->-- '''The Last Tiger''', ''VideoGame/BattlefieldV''

->''"Just followed your example, Shepard. Yell loud enough, and eventually someone will come over to see what all the fuss is about. Not that they'll actually do anything about it."''
-->--'''Garrus Vakarian''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''

->''"It's like a blind spot. It's something you don't see, or can't see, or your brain doesn't let you see because it assumes that it's Somebody. Else's. Problem."''
-->-- '''Ford Prefect''', ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'' (though this is actually describing a PerceptionFilter)

-> ''An SEP is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem.... The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corner of your eye.''
-->-- '''Ford Prefect''', ''Life, The Universe, and Everything''

->Some of the things you could learn up a drainpipe at night were surprising. For example, people paid attention to small sounds — the click of a window catch, the clink of a lockpick — more than they did to big sounds, like a brick falling into the street or even (for this was, after all, Ankh-Morpork) a scream.\\
\\
These were loud sounds which were therefore public sounds, which in turn meant they were everyone’s problem and, therefore, not mine. But small sounds were nearby and suggested such things as stealth betrayed, and so were pressing and personal.
-->''Literature/MakingMoney''

->''' Sgt. Donovan''': Sir, there's been a break-in! \\
''' DI Lestrade''': Not our division!
-->-- Series/{{Sherlock}}

-> ''Can't someone else do it?''
-->-- '''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]]''''s slogan when running for Sanitation Commissioner

->''The death of a disco dancer / Well, it happens a lot 'round here''
->''And if you think Peace / Is a common goal''
->''That goes to show / How little you know''
->''The death of a disco dancer / Well, I'd rather not get involved''
->''I never talk to my neighbour / I'd rather not get involved''
-->-- '''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk8qObWe3f0 Death Of A Disco Dancer]]''', ''Music/TheSmiths''

-> '''Superman:''' Tell [the drug dealers] I plan to come back every few weeks. I'll [burn their stashes down] again and again until they leave. \\
'''Kid:''' Okay, but you ''know'' they're just gonna set up somewhere else, over there-- \\
'''Superman:''' Yes, but they won't be ''here'' anymore, and that's a step in the right direction. See, in the end, all we can do is look at where we ''are'', at where we're ''standing'', and say we will not allow it ''here''. ''Over there'' has to stand for itself, has to ''speak'' for itself. Because it's only when ''over there'' becomes ''here'' that we can stop this once and for all.
-->-- ''Franchise/{{Superman}} #701''

->''Kitty Genovese. I'm sure that was the woman's name. Raped. Tortured. Killed. Here. In New York. Outside her own apartment building. Almost forty neighbours heard screams. Nobody did anything. Nobody called cops. Some of them even watched.''
-->-- '''Rorschach''', ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''

->''That's your problem. [[NotYourProblem Givin' a fuck when it ain't your turn to give a fuck.]]''
-->--'''"Bunk" Moreland''', ''Series/TheWire''

->''At minimum, by this point, you should not give a shit. Regular readers of this space should have the mental fortitude to not give'' two ''shits... and advanced apathy masters can fail to give anywhere between three and five shits.''
-->-- '''Bryan Lambert''', ''YouAreDumb''

->Seeing my burst of anger, the girl did a complete one-eighty, from awe and surprise to desperate apologies. That didn’t necessarily improve things. “Oh god, I’m sorry. You know, I didn’t think about how it would bother you, saying that. I really did want to help, you know, to do something back then, but-”
->“But you didn’t,” I growled at her. “Just like everyone else, you left me in that locker. You didn’t go get help. You didn’t report the people who did it, not even anonymously. You ''felt bad''? You ''wanted'' to help? Is that supposed to mean something to me? Is it supposed to be some consolation? You were too lazy or cowardly to step up and do anything about it, but hey, at least your heart was in the right fucking place, huh?”
-->-- ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' 11.5

->''The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.''
-->-- '''Alice Walker'''

->''The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.''
-->-- '''Edmund Burke''', and also reused by '''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Adrian Fahrenheight Tepes/Alucard]]'''

->''Too often, people think that evil must be grand, or imposing. They mistake intent for stature. But all too often evil is meager and pathetic. One person willing to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, heedless of the suffering they themselves cause. Such an evil can be worse than all the machinations and schemes of the powerful. Because it is pervasive.''
-->-- '''The Shadow''', Dynamite's ''Radio/TheShadow'' #23

->''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.''
-->-- '''Martin Niemöller'''

->''Oh, look outside the window''
->''There's a woman being grabbed''
->''They've dragged her to the bushes''
->''And now she's being stabbed''
->''Maybe we should call the cops''
->''And try to stop the pain''
->''But Monopoly is so much fun''
->''I'd hate to blow the game''

->''And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody''
->''Outside of a small circle of friends''

->''Ridin' down the highway''
->''Yes, my back is gettin' stiff''
->''Thirteen cars are piled up''
->''They're hangin' on a cliff''
->''Now maybe we should pull them back''
->''With our towin' chain''
->''But we gotta move and we might get sued''
->''And it looks like it's gonna rain''

->''And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody''
->''Outside of a small circle of friends''

->''Sweatin' in the ghetto''
->''With the colored and the poor''
->''The rats have joined the babies''
->''Who are sleepin' on the floor''
->''Now wouldn't it be a riot''
->''If they really blew their tops?''
->''But they got too much already''
->''And besides we've got the cops''

->''And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody''
->''Outside of a small circle of friends''

->''Oh, there's a dirty paper''
->''Using sex to make a sale''
->''The Supreme Court was so upset''
->''They sent him off to jail''
->''Maybe we should help the fiend''
->''And take away his fine''
->''But we're busy reading Playboy''
->''And the Sunday New York Times''

->''And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody''
->''Outside of a small circle of friends''

->''Smokin' marihuana''
->''Is more fun than drinkin' beer''
->''But a friend of ours was captured''
->''And they gave him thirty years''
->''Maybe we should raise our voices''
->''Ask somebody why''
->''But demonstrations are a drag''
->''Besides we're much too high''

->''And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody''
->''Outside of a small circle of friends''
-->-- '''Music/PhilOchs''', ''Outside of a Small Circle of Friends''

->It is collective security: it is the very existence of the League of Nations. It is the confidence that each State is to place in international treaties. It is the value of promises made to small States that their integrity and their independence shall be respected and ensured. It is the principle of the equality of States on the one hand, or otherwise the obligation laid upon small Powers to accept the bonds of vassalship. In a word, it is international morality that is at stake. Have the signatures appended to a Treaty value only in so far as the signatory Powers have a personal, direct, and immediate interest involved?

->Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there is not on this earth any nation that is superior to any other. Should it happen that a strong Government finds it may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII God and history will remember your judgment]].
-->-- '''Emperor Haile Selassie''', '''Address to the League of Nations'''

->''"[[TheHeartless This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.]] Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it! Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!"''
-->--'''Ghost Of Christmas Past''', ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''

-> '''Loki''': Who knows? It's not my problem.\\
'''Skuld''': But there could be consequences not just for Midgard, but for Asgard, Alfheim and all the worlds!
-> '''Loki''': [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Not. My. Problem]].
-->-- A conversation in the game ''VideoGame/ValkyrieConnect''

-> ''"For evil bastards to win power all ordinary people have to do is stand aside and keep quiet. There's always a choice."''
-->-- '''Trevor Belmont''', ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017''

->'''Charles''': We have to help them.\\
'''Logan''': We have to keep moving. Someone will come along.\\
'''Charles''': Someone ''has'' come along.
-->-- ''Film/{{Logan}}''

->Keeping your distance from something like that was just common sense. I’d go to court, I’d be a witness, but no one could expect anything more of me. Not when thirty other people had behaved in exactly the same way. [...] This wasn’t Kristallnacht. There’d be no embarrassing questions from my grandchildren. No one would ever reproach me.\\
[[WhatYouAreInTheDark As if that were the measure of everything]].\\
"[[DefiedTrope Fuck it.]]" I dropped my backpack and ran down the alley.
-->--'''Creator/GregEgan''', "Singleton"

->''"If you’re thinking 'Come on, that doesn’t seem like that big a problem', congratulations on your white penis."''
-->-- '''Creator/JohnOliver''', ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'', on [[InternetJerk online harassment of women]].

->''"The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death."''
-->-- '''Elie Wiesel'''

->'''Klaus:''' Whoa! That was crazy! Why isn't anyone reacting to this?\\
'''Random guy:''' Because it doesn't concern me. I'm not ''in'' the Gravitron. I'm eating caramel corn, having the time of my life. This ''is'' a carnival, after all. Try smiling, asshole! Fuck you!
-->--'''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''', Season 15 "Shark?!"

-> ''"We would try and stop them, but, you know, we're Koopa Troopas. What are we gonna do? Walk slowly into them?"''
-->-- '''A Koopa Troopa''', ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing''

->''"There are two kinds of evil people in this world. Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don't try to stop it."''
-->--'''Janis Ian''', ''Film/MeanGirls''

->'''Robby Robinson''': Ninety fucking priests in Boston alone? If there were 90 of these bastards, people would know.\\
'''Mike Rezendes''': Maybe they do.\\
'''Robby''': And no one said a thing?\\
'''Mike''': Good Germans?
-->--''Film/{{Spotlight}}''

->''"Those who fail to prevent injustice are as guilty as the perpetrator."''
-->--'''John Kildare''', ''Film/TheLimehouseGolem''

->''"When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you."''
-->--'''Peter Parker''', ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''

->''"What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?"''
-->--'''Rachel Dawes''', ''Film/BatmanBegins''

->''"Is this neutral? Bullshit! You're the only one still playing by the rules, Midnite, and while you've been imitating Switzerland people are dying. Hennessy, Beeman, they were your friends once, too, remember?"''
-->--'''John Constantine''' to '''Papa Midnite''', ''Film/{{Constantine}}''

->''"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it."''
-->--'''Robert Swan'''

->''"There are no innocents! Not anymore! Any one of them could have stood up and said, 'No, we won't behave like animals anymore.'"''
-->--'''{{Dracula}}''', ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017''

->On the "dumbest" level, one can watch Film/{{Borat|SubsequentMoviefilm}} as making fun of Eastern Europeans, and from the number of people who came away from [[Film/{{Borat}} the 2006 film]] repeating the catchphrases "Very nice" and "My wife," I do think [[MisaimedFandom there are some who saw the butt of the joke as Kazakhstan rather than America]]. A slightly more sophisticated analysis sees Borat as an expose of the many kinds of racist, sexist Republicans who populate [[FlyoverCountry Middle America]]. But, while I am no fan of Republicans, I think that view allows liberal viewers to let themselves off the hook, by seeing ''those other'' Americans--the ones with the backward views--as the ones being lampooned.\\
Properly understood, I think Borat is a very deep indictment of all of us, because the tendencies it shows in the [[ConspiracyTheorist QAnon dudes]] are not limited to [=QAnon=] dudes. The tendency that is most omnipresent among the film's unwitting subjects--declining to do or say anything when the facts of an injustice demand it--is just as present among enlightened liberals. The target of the film is not ''prejudice'' but ''passivity''; knowing that something is wrong but lacking the guts to step forward and do the right thing.
-->--'''Nathan J. Robinson''', [[https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/11/borat-as-milgram-experiment "Borat as Milgram Experiment"]], ''Current Affairs''

->If we let this pass, and if one day there are documentaries that cover this moment, our descendants will be astonished. Not because the people who could have stopped this were terrified into inaction, as the opponents of other proto-dictatorships were. But because they couldn't be bothered.
-->-- '''George Monbiot''', [[https://www.monbiot.com/2021/12/13/this-is-the-moment/ "This Is the Moment"]], on a 2021 British government bill that, among other things, would expand acts that could be criminalised to include "interfering with the operation of key infrastructure"[[note]]Many elements of the bill did pass.[[/note]]

->''And then some little assholes throw spitballs at and mock the special ed kids. And Mary Anne the Sensitive and Kristy the Justice Warrior just sit there and watch and silently seethe, instead of speaking up or even just telling a damn teacher that the kids were being bullied. WHAT IS IT WITH THESE BOOKS AND SITTING IDLY BY WHEN KIDS ARE BEING SHITS TO EACH OTHER?''
-->-- '''[[https://bsc-snark.livejournal.com/581861.html syphabelnades]]''' pointing this out during their review of ''Literature/TheBabysittersClub: Kristy and the Secret of Susan''

->''You know, maybe I'm mistaken, but... As far as I can tell, not a single light has gone on in any apartment or stairwell. And do you know why that is? Because in this... hell of a town, in this hell of a county, in this hell of a'' world... ''(shouts out his window)'' '''''NOBODY WANTS TO HELP!!!'''''
-->-- '''Jack''' to '''Jacqueline''', ''Film/TheHouseThatJackBuilt''

->''"Counter-intuitively, [[[CantMoveWhileBeingWatched Coil Heads]]] can be even more dangerous with a large group because everybody else assumes that somebody else will maintain the eye contact."''
-->--'''LetsPlay/TheRussianBadger''' on [[VideoGame/LethalCompany Coil Heads]], ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz2J8GUQlNQ when the $10 youtube poop outsells call of duty]]''

->'''Susato Mikotoba:''' By the way, Menimemo-san... ...whilst you were watching that terrible scene unfold before your eyes through the gap in the screen... ...did it not occur to you to try to prevent the tragedy, rather than capture it on film?\\
'''Raiten Menimemo:''' ...Journos have to be observers. We can't get involved. That's our raison d'être.
-->-- ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney: Resolve'', Case G2-1: "The Adventure of the Blossoming Attorney"
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Return to BystanderSyndrome. Or not.
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