When Should a Man Act?

We are in an age when a healthy, 20-something-year-old man will pull out his phone and record a person’s dilemma or even death rather than wade into the turbid water to save the drowning person, or help an injured person up off the street, or help defend someone when a mob attacks.

This isn’t just sad, it is inhuman.

A man, to be a man, must act. But when?

The knee-jerk reaction should be to help. I was only really tested on this once. I saw a young girl’s kayak flip. She didn’t have a life jacket. I stepped forward and watched to see if she could swim. She was going down. All I remember after that is that I was in the water racing to her. I only found out later that I’d tossed my phone, keys, and wallet as I ran down the beach. I saved the girl and her mother (who was trying to help, but couldn’t).

Situations like that one, though, are rare. Most others require thought, wisdom, and then perhaps action. But doing the right thing does require practice. It is a mindset. There is manly confidence in it grown from a life of action. Aristotle told us to create good habits, and being a hero in waiting is created from good habits.

Answering the question further requires context, but it is worth considering the old maxim: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

This is often said with the phrase “for the good men to stay silent.” This common variation emphasizes silence/passivity or the sort the person with the phone personifies. But all the variations of this saying convey the same core idea: evil prevails when good people fail to speak up or act against it.

Interestingly, this quote is frequently misattributed to the 18th-century Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke. Despite its widespread use, there is no evidence that Burke ever said or wrote these exact words.

The idea actually has older roots:

•                A close early version comes from philosopher John Stuart Mill in an 1867 inaugural address at the University of St. Andrews: “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”

•                Even earlier echoes appear in the 19th century, such as in 1867 writings referencing “bad men need nothing more ... than that good men should look on and do nothing.”

•                Burke did express related ideas, such as in his 1770 speech “Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents”: “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”

So, the saying comes from a long tradition of moral philosophy warning against complacency. It’s a powerful proverb-like expression that has evolved over time. More men in this generation need to ruminate on it.