Samuel Butler (1835–1902) novelist
Vice and Virtue, iii
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912), Part II - Elementary Morality
“Trying too hard to be too good, even when trying to be bad, is too good for the bad, too bad for the good.”
Imperfection http://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poem/21399/Imperfection <br class="br">From the poems written in English
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Dejan Stojanovic278
poet, writer, and businessman 1959Related quotes
“Nobody is too good or too bad to qualify for God’s grace.”
T. B. Joshua (1963) Nigerian Christian leader
On his poverty-stricken background - "Rare Pictures Of TB Joshua's Early Life Surface" http://zambianeye.com/archives/34213 Zambian Eye (June 25 2015)
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
“Man, whence is he? / Too bad to be the work of a god, too good for the work of chance.”
Doris Lessing (1919–2013) British novelist, poet, playwright, librettist, biographer and short story writer
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, as quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899) by James Wood, p. 61; usually attributed to Doris Lessing in the form: "Man — who is he? Too bad, to be the work of God: Too good for the work of chance!"
Misattributed
“Man, whence is he?
Too bad to be the work of a god, too good for the work of chance.”
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781) writer, philosopher, publicist, and art critic
Der Mensch, wo ist er her?
Zu schlecht für einen Gott, zu gut fürs Ungefähr.
As quoted in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources (1899) by James Wood, p. 61
Variant: Man — who is he? Too bad to be the work of God; Too good for the work of chance!
“People who can be very good can be very bad too.”
Agatha Christie book They Do It with Mirrors
Source: They Do It with Mirrors
“Good or bad, do it as you. Too many lies and there's no truth to go back to.”
Terry Pratchett book Monstrous Regiment
Source: Monstrous Regiment
Halldór Laxness (1902–1998) Icelandic author
Steinar's wife
Paradísarheimt (Paradise Reclaimed) (1960)
