“My father had taught me to be nice first, because you can always be mean later, but once you've been mean to someone, they won't believe the nice anymore. So be nice, be nice, until it's time to stop being nice, then destroy them.”
Source: A Stroke of Midnight
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Laurell K. Hamilton261
Novelist 1963Related quotes
“Just because it's not nice doesn't mean it's not miraculous.”
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author
Source: Interesting Times: The Play
“It's hard to be nice when the rest of the world is so mean.”
Sarah Dessen book Just Listen
Variant: Being nice wasn't as easy as it seemed especially when the rest of the world could be so mean
Source: Just Listen
“the meaning of kindness is hard to define, words you believe to be nice could be hurt to others”
Ritsuko Okazaki (1959–2004) Japanese singer
A Happy Life, Rain or Shine
Lyrics
“On Being Old. It's not nice but take comfort that you won't stay that way for ever.”
J. P. Donleavy (1926–2017) Novelist, playwright, essayist
The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival & Manners (New York: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, 1975) p. 278.
“I'd rather be nice to someone spoiled than mean to someone who really could use a hand.”
Ysabella Brave (1979) American singer
"Doing Good — for the right reasons!" (13 March 2008)
Context: We should not, certainly, punish other people in general because of an apparent lack of gratitude on the part of some. It could be that people are so busy they seem ungrateful — or they actually are thankless! But this is OK — I'd rather be nice to someone spoiled than mean to someone who really could use a hand.
Ysabella Brave (1979) American singer
"Quick Update from Ysabella Brave" (6 May, 2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCVdO__jDgw
“Be Nice. Contrary to the cliché, genuinely nice guys most often finish first or very near it.”
Malcolm Forbes (1919–1990) American publisher
"How to Write a Business Letter" —an advertisement for International Paper Company (1979)
Context: Be Nice. Contrary to the cliché, genuinely nice guys most often finish first or very near it. I admit it's not easy when you've got a gripe. To be agreeable while disagreeing — that's an art.
Be natural — write the way you talk.