
“It is better to be a good human being than to be a bad one. It is just naturally better.”
My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)
Fab. LVII: Of the Fox and the Cat
The Fables of Aesop (2nd ed. 1668)
“It is better to be a good human being than to be a bad one. It is just naturally better.”
My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)
“For a man wins nothing better than a good wife, and, again, nothing worse than a bad one.”
Source: Works and Days (c. 700 BC), line 702.
“Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”
"Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad Company." This was a French maxim, late 16th century, as quoted by George Washington in his "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation," Rule # 56 (ca. 1744) http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/civility/transcript.html
Misattributed
Variant: There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.
Source: The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”
“There is only good and bad art.”
My Heart's in the Highlands (1939)
“A good example is more irritating than a bad one.”
From a presentation in Munich, Jan 1991, in response to an audience question on why his competitors complained about his business practices.