“Because I had goodwill for all, / I thought all were my friends. / And then I learned of treachery, / that some preferred my end. / It wasn't the goodwill I felt / that made someone a friend. / What handy day, the one I learned / the meaning of the word. / How good to know my enemies /”

—  Vanna Bonta

though their reasons are absurd!
"Definition"
Shades of the World (1985)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Because I had goodwill for all, / I thought all were my friends. / And then I learned of treachery, / that some preferr…" by Vanna Bonta?
Vanna Bonta photo
Vanna Bonta 205
Italian-American writer, poet, inventor, actress, voice art… 1958–2014

Related quotes

Orson Scott Card photo

“It occurred to me that if my friends were loathsome, perhaps I needed to learn from my enemies.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Homecoming saga, Earthborn (1995)

Ben Harper photo
Abraham Pais photo

“All I had was my head and my books, and I thought a lot. I learned, because there was no interruption. I had access to myself, to my thinking.”

Abraham Pais (1918–2000) American Physicist

On life in hiding from Nazi authorities, p. 48
To Save a Life: Stories of Holocaust Rescue (2000)
Context: One of the things I learned, one of the strangest things, is how to think. There was nothing else to do. I couldn't see people, or go for a walk in the forest. All I had was my head and my books, and I thought a lot. I learned, because there was no interruption. I had access to myself, to my thinking. I wouldn't say that I particularly matured. The thinking was physics thinking. I was just short of twenty-two then.
I was in hiding for two years and two months, something like that. In all that time I went out very, very little, just once in a great while, after dark. Once I even took the train to Utrecht, forty miles from Amsterdam, with my yellow star, this star which I still have. Why did I go? I just wanted to visit some friends. I was a little bit crazy, a little bit insane.

Sherrilyn Kenyon photo
Daniel Dennett photo

“Friends were anxious to learn if I had had a near-death experience, and if so, what effect it had had on my longstanding public atheism.”

Daniel Dennett (1942) American philosopher

Thank Goodness! (2006)
Context: Friends were anxious to learn if I had had a near-death experience, and if so, what effect it had had on my longstanding public atheism. Had I had an epiphany? Was I going to follow in the footsteps of Ayer (who recovered his aplomb and insisted a few days later "what I should have said is that my experiences have weakened, not my belief that there is no life after death, but my inflexible attitude towards that belief"), or was my atheism still intact and unchanged?
Yes, I did have an epiphany. I saw with greater clarity than ever before in my life that when I say "Thank goodness!" this is not merely a euphemism for "Thank God!" (We atheists don't believe that there is any God to thank.) I really do mean thank goodness! There is a lot of goodness in this world, and more goodness every day, and this fantastic human-made fabric of excellence  is genuinely responsible for the fact that I am alive today. It is a worthy recipient of the gratitude I feel today, and I want to celebrate that fact here and now.

Rick Astley photo

“I took the first few years off and spent them recovering. I didn't even know what day it was or who I was anymore, so I made a conscious effort to end it all. I thought my days were numbered as a pop star anyway. My girlfriend and I had a daughter, I had some money, so I just took the time off to chill out.”

Rick Astley (1966) British singer and songwriter

On his leaving the music industry after his hits of the 80s, as quoted in Metro (3 September 2004) http://www.stockaitkenwaterman.com/artists/astl07.htm

Tupac Shakur photo
Brian Wilson photo

“I think because I felt so sad I had to bring out my feelings, and try to create music that would make me and all my friends feel better.”

Brian Wilson (1942) American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer

Caroline Now! interview (20 April 2000) http://www.marina.com/brian.htm

Warren G. Harding photo

“I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends, my god-damned friends, White, they're the ones who keep me walking the floor nights!”

Warren G. Harding (1865–1923) American politician, 29th president of the United States (in office from 1921 to 1923)

Remark to editor William Alan White, as quoted in Thomas Harry Williams et al. (1959) A History of the United States.
1920s

Related topics