All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.
And having seen what I’ve seen — and given the chance — I feel it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.”
In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly — if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope that those words might be helpful." - Meaning and context.">
The "Burke quote" she uses here is a common but disputed attribution.

You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing speaking at the UN. And it’s a really good question. I've been asking myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.
And having seen what I’ve seen — and given the chance — I feel it is my responsibility to say something.
Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.”
In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly — if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope that those words might be helpful.

— Emma Watson

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing speaking at the UN. And it’s a really good question. I've been asking myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.
And having seen what I’ve seen — and given the chance — I feel it is my responsibility to say something.
Statesman Edmund Burke said: “All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing.”
In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt I’ve told myself firmly — if not me, who, if not now, when. If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope that those words might be helpful." in the context of "The "Burke quote" she uses here is a common but disputed attribution." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Emma Watson" (Quotes, UN Speech on the HeForShe campaign (2014): "Speech as UN Goodwill Ambassador at a special event for the HeForShe campaign, United Nations Headquarters, New York (20 September 2014) · YouTube video) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Emma Watson

About Emma Watson

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson (born 15 April 1990) is an English actress, model, and activist known for her portrayal of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series.