Hannah Arendt

The subterranean stream of Western history has finally come to the surface and usurped the dignity of a tradition.

The very fact that totalitarianism can exist and endure, that it is not merely a transient phenomenon, is a terrifying thought.

The sad fact is that the evil in this world is in general not done by evil people, but by good people who are not good enough.

Totalitarianism, by definition, is rule by an elite, and it can only be understood as such.

The difficulty in the way of thinking about evil is that it is not a thought-provoking phenomenon.

The greatest danger of totalitarianism is not that it will fail, but that it will succeed.

The problem of evil in the twentieth century is not the problem of radical evil, but the problem of the banality of evil.

The greatest crimes are committed not by thugs and madmen, but by respectable citizens who are merely doing their job.

The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed.

The most pernicious of all lies is the lie that tells the truth.

The greatest danger of totalitarianism is that it destroys the human capacity for judgment.

The problem of evil is not a problem of depth, but a problem of surface.

The most dangerous thing in the world is not evil, but thoughtlessness.