open/close all folders
Film — Live-Action
Belle: But he has cursed you somehow. Why? You did nothing.
Missus Potts: You're quite right there, dear. You see, when the master lost his mother, and his cruel father took that sweet innocent lad and twisted him up to be just like him... we did nothing.
Missus Potts: You're quite right there, dear. You see, when the master lost his mother, and his cruel father took that sweet innocent lad and twisted him up to be just like him... we did nothing.
Robb Stark: Escort Lord Karstark to the dungeon. Hang the rest.
Captive: Mercy, sire! I didn't kill anyone. I only watched for the guards!
Robb: This one was only the watcher. Hang him last so he can watch the others die.
Captive: Mercy, sire! I didn't kill anyone. I only watched for the guards!
Robb: This one was only the watcher. Hang him last so he can watch the others die.
Live-Action TV
"You have no idea what it's like to be a coward. To see these horrors, and do nothing."
— Aamin Marritza, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Duet"
Video Games
Batman: A lot of innocent people almost died tonight because of you.
Anarky: "Innocent"?! They watched as Gotham went to hell and didn't do a thing!
Batman: They're just afraid...
Anarky: No! They're weak! And so are you.
Anarky: "Innocent"?! They watched as Gotham went to hell and didn't do a thing!
Batman: They're just afraid...
Anarky: No! They're weak! And so are you.
"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, Battlefield V
Player: Graham wasn't the one who killed all those people. He just allowed it to happen.
Felix: I'm sure Graham told himself the same thing. He wasn't the one who held the gun and pulled the trigger. All he did was turn a key. The thing is... that's all it takes. Sometimes the difference between right and wrong is turning a key, or looking the other way, or keeping your mouth shut when you oughtta speak up.
Felix: I'm sure Graham told himself the same thing. He wasn't the one who held the gun and pulled the trigger. All he did was turn a key. The thing is... that's all it takes. Sometimes the difference between right and wrong is turning a key, or looking the other way, or keeping your mouth shut when you oughtta speak up.
"How many times did you look away that someone cried for help? Acting like you didn't know? We won't accept excuses without sincere actions."
— Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, lyrics to "Invitation to Freedom"
"Jeddah preyed upon his own child, making her suffer, and die. The entire town turned a blind eye to Jeddah's crimes, and I watched. The people's vicious disregard for Carol's safety was no less a crime than her father's!"
— Mother, Sanitarium
Web Original
SCP-343: "My child, it is time to forgive the Foundation for their transgressions—"
SCP-231-7: Don't talk to me about the Foundation. I'm not angry with the Foundation, I'm angry with you. They didn't know what they were doing. Thought they were saving the world. But you… You could have told the Foundation what I was. You could have just taken me away from them. You could have done something. Even just a word to O5-14… But you did nothing. Do you — of course you do. You know exactly what they did to me. You know every last detail. And. You. Did. Nothing.
SCP-231-7: Don't talk to me about the Foundation. I'm not angry with the Foundation, I'm angry with you. They didn't know what they were doing. Thought they were saving the world. But you… You could have told the Foundation what I was. You could have just taken me away from them. You could have done something. Even just a word to O5-14… But you did nothing. Do you — of course you do. You know exactly what they did to me. You know every last detail. And. You. Did. Nothing.
— SCP Foundation, The White Horse
(Competitive Eschatology canon)
(Competitive Eschatology canon) Web Video
Producer: I mean, anyone who witnessed something like thatnote would step in. That's horrible.
Screenwriter: Actually, there's a big crowd of people watching.
Producer: Oh, there is?
Screenwriter: Yeah, they don't do anything, and Billy only steps in because the bullies make a joke about moms.
Producer: Oh, being a passive onlooker is tight.
Screenwriter: Actually, there's a big crowd of people watching.
Producer: Oh, there is?
Screenwriter: Yeah, they don't do anything, and Billy only steps in because the bullies make a joke about moms.
Producer: Oh, being a passive onlooker is tight.
Western Animation
Dracula: That woman was the only reason on Earth for me to tolerate human life!
Alucard: Then find the one who did the deed! If you loose an army of the night on Wallachia, you cannot undo it, and many thousands of people just as innocent as her will suffer and die.
Dracula: There are no innocents! Not anymore! Any one of them could have stood up and said, "No, we won't behave like animals anymore."
Alucard: Then find the one who did the deed! If you loose an army of the night on Wallachia, you cannot undo it, and many thousands of people just as innocent as her will suffer and die.
Dracula: There are no innocents! Not anymore! Any one of them could have stood up and said, "No, we won't behave like animals anymore."
Real Life
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who stand by and do nothing."
"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 'more convenient season.'"
— Martin Luther King Jr., excerpt from his Letter from a Birmingham Jail
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."
— Desmond Tutu
