All tyranny needs to gain foothold

[carla guaraldi]

Hi everyone,

" All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
My question is why to use for in this phrase? Could it be left out?
I've been thinking about this almost half of my day and I couldn't understand that.
Could you help?
Thank you.

 

[BobK]

No, you can't leave it out. If the sentence had 'needs gain' it would make 'All tyranny needs gain a foothold' the main clause [="All [kinds of] tyranny needs [to] gaina foothold'] ; and the 'sentence' would not make sense.

What it does mean is 'For tyranny to gain a foothold all that is necessary is that well-meaning people remain silent'. Jefferson's version is neater.

b

 

[carla guaraldi]

Thank you very much.
I am trying to understand the use of 'for' in the phrase, but I was not able to formulate what I had in mind.
When I read your answer, I realised what I have written and that was not what I wanted to say.