Quotes about goodness
page 10

“Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt.”

Shūsaku Endō book Silence

Source: Silence

Beauty, Christ

“I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.”

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) Mexican painter

Variant: I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows. But now the damned things have learned to swim, and now decency and good behavior weary me.

Feeling, Learning

“Memories, you see, hurt. The good ones most of all.”

Harlan Coben book Tell No One

Source: Tell No One

Memory, Hurt

“Honestly," she sighed, "I don't know what kind of life we'll have together, with me always flying off in one direction and you in the other."
I smiled. "It's a good thing the world's round," I said.”

Kenneth Oppel (1967) Canadian children's writer

Life, World, Smile, Flying

“I learned that just beneath the surface there's another world, and still different worlds as you dig deeper. I knew it as a kid, but I couldn't find the proof. It was just a kind of feeling. There is goodness in blue skies and flowers, but another force--a wild pain and decay--also accompanies everything.”

David Lynch (1946) American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor

Pain, World, Feeling, Flowers

“A little talent is a good thing to have if you want to be a writer. But the only real requirement is the ability to remember every scar.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

“Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of character, and it may be confidently asserted that he, who is cruel to living creatures, cannot be a good man. Moreover, this compassion manifestly flows from the same source whence arise the virtues of justice and loving-kindness towards men.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Part III, Ch. VIII, 7, p. 223 https://archive.org/stream/basisofmorality00schoiala#page/223/mode/2up On the Basis of Morality (1840) Source: The Basis of Morality

Love, Men, Justice, Confidence

“Philosophy is an amazing tissue of really fine thinking and incredible, puerile mistakes. It's like one of those rubber 'bones' they give dogs to chew, damned good for the mind's teeth, but as food - no bloody good at all.”

Olaf Stapledon book Odd John

Source: Odd John

Food, Dogs, Thinking

“A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life, to be thankful for a good one.”

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896–1953) American novelist

Love, Life

“Those who don't read good books have no advantage over those who can't.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Variant: The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.

Books, Reading

“I don't want to hurt you, Mistress Weatherwax," said Mrs Gogol.
"That's good," said Granny. "I don't want you to hurt me either.”

Terry Pratchett book Witches Abroad

Source: Witches Abroad

Hurt

“I am sure there are things that can't be cured by a good bath but I can't think of one.”

Sylvia Plath book The Bell Jar

Source: The Bell Jar

Thinking

“Nothing good ever comes of love. What comes of love is always something better”

Roberto Bolaño book Amulet

Source: Amulet

Love

“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

Roald Dahl (1916–1990) British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter

Inspirational, Happy, Wise, Deep

“Remember me not for the ill I've done but for the good I've dreamed.”

Frederick Buechner book Godric

Source: Godric

Dreams

“There is nothing in our book, the Qur'an, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone lays a hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That's a good religion.”

Malcolm X (1925–1965) American human rights activist

November 10, 1963
This was said before Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and as he himself stated, before he truly understood Islam.
Malcolm X Speaks (1965)

Books, Peace, Religion, Law

“Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.”

Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German poet, playwright, theatre director

Intelligence

“And, while it was regarded as pretty good evidence of criminality to be
living in a slum, for some reason owning a whole street of them merely got
you invited to the very best social occasions.”

Terry Pratchett book Feet of Clay

Source: Feet of Clay

“O God, help me to win, but in thy wisdom if thou willest me not to win, then O God, make me a good loser.”

Robert Baden-Powell (1857–1941) lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder and Chief Scout of the Scout Movement

Wisdom, God, Help

“The good, the admirable reader identifies himself not with the boy or the girl in the book, but with the mind that conceived and composed that book.”

Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

Books, Girl, Boy

“The good life doesn't knock on the door.
Joy is a job.”

Lionel Shriver (1957) American writer

Life, Joy

“Remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.”

P. C. Cast book Betrayed

Source: Betrayed

Light, Evil

“As we expand our knowledge of good books, we shrink the circle of men whose company we appreciate.”

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) German philosopher and anthropologist

Men, Books, Knowledge

“Love sought is good, but giv'n unsought is better.”

William Shakespeare Twelfth Night

Source: Twelfth Night

Love

“It is as inhuman to be totally good as it is to be totally evil.”

Anthony Burgess book A Clockwork Orange

Source: A Clockwork Orange

Evil

“What I have in mind is that art may be bad, good or indifferent, but, whatever adjective is used, we must call it art, and bad art is still art in the same way that a bad emotion is still an emotion.”

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) French painter and sculptor

1951 - 1968, The Creative Act', 1957
Context: I want to clarify our understanding of the word 'art' – to be sure, without an attempt to a definition. What I have in mind is that art may be bad, good or indifferent, but, whatever adjective is used, we must call it art, and bad art is still art in the same way as a bad emotion is still an emotion.
Therefore, when I refer to 'art coefficient', it will be understood that I refer not only to great art, but I am trying to describe the subjective mechanism which produces art in a raw state – 'à l'état brute' – bad, good or indifferent.

Art, Way, Indifference

“He who is too busy doing good finds no time to be good.”

Rabindranath Tagore Stray Birds

184
Stray Birds (1916)

Business, Time

“But for half a minute she wished it was a different sort of day, even though she knew that nothing good could come from wanting at the world.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Source: The Slow Regard of Silent Things

World

“So will I turn her virtue into pitch,
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all.”

William Shakespeare Othello

Source: Othello

“Marconi is a good fellow. Let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents.”

Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian American inventor

On being informed that Marconi was transmitting wireless messages across the Atlantic Ocean, as quoted in "Who Invented Radio?" at PBS.org http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_whoradio.html, and in Tesla : The Modern Sorcerer (1999) by Daniel Blair Stewart, p. 371

“It's good to do uncomfortable things. It's weight training for life.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Source: Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

Life, Training

“Good heavens! how marriage ruins a man! It's as demoralizing as cigarettes, and far more expensive.”

Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan

Source: Lady Windermere's Fan

Marriage

“I want you to remember what was good in me, not what was most awful. The people you love should be allowed to keep their worst to themselves.”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: Horns

Love, People

“I think perhaps education doesn’t do us much good unless it is mixed with sweat.”

Barack Obama book Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Source: Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Education, Thinking

“Government is good at one thing: It knows how to break your legs, hand you a crutch, and say, "See, if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk."”

Harry Browne (1933–2006) American politician and writer

" A solution for the Middle East http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27171," WorldNetDaily (April 11, 2002) 2000s

“every good artist paints what he is”

Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) American artist

Painting

“Just the omission of Jane Austen's books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar, Ch. LIX
Following the Equator (1897)

Books

“Patience, grasshopper," said Maia. "Good things come to those who wait."
"I always thought that was 'Good things come to those who do the wave,'" said Simon. "No wonder I've been so confused all my life.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Glass

Source: City of Glass

Life, Waiting, Patience

“I just think of things as beautiful or not. Can't you understand? I don't think of good or bad. Just of beautiful or ugly. I think a lot of nice things are ugly and a lot of nasty things are beautiful.”

John Fowles book The Collector

Source: The Collector

Beauty, Understanding, Thinking

“To recognize untruth as a condition of life--that certainly means resisting accustomed value feelings in a dangerous way; and a philosophy that risks this would by that token alone place itself beyond good and evil.”

Friedrich Nietzsche book Beyond Good and Evil

Source: Beyond Good and Evil

Life, Way, Feeling, Evil

“Associate yourself with Men of good Quality if you Esteem your own Reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad Company.”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

This is from a set of maxims which Washington copied out in his own hand as a school-boy: "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/the-rules-of-civility/" Rule # 56 written out by Washington ca. 1744: : These maxims originated in the late sixteenth century in France and were popularly circulated during Washington's time. Washington wrote out a copy of the 110 Rules in his school book when he was about sixteen-years old... During the days before mere hero worship had given place to understanding and comprehension of the fineness of Washington's character, of his powerful influence among men, and of the epoch-making nature of the issues he so largely shaped, it was assumed that Washington himself composed the maxims, or at least that he compiled them. It is a satisfaction to find that his consideration for others, his respect for and deference to those deserving such treatment, his care of his own body and tongue, and even his reverence for his Maker, all were early inculcated in him by precepts which were the common practice in decent society the world over. These very maxims had been in use in France for a century and a half, and in England for a century, before they were set as a task for the schoolboy Washington. :* Charles Moore in his Introduction to George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation (1926) http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/civility/index.html, edited by Charles Moore, xi-xv Misattributed

Men

“So next time someone complains that you have made a mistake, tell him that may be a good thing. Because without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.”

Stephen Hawking (1942–2018) British theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author

Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking (2010)

Time

“Would I serve you or (Prince) Jon stolen goods? he asked. "No, don't answer me.”

Tamora Pierce (1954) American writer of fantasy novels for children

“At your absolute best, you still won't be good enough for the wrong person. At your worst, you'll still be worth it to the right person.”

Karen Salmansohn American writer

Personality

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

Roald Dahl book The Twits

Source: The Twits

Love, Personality

“I want to be good. I can't bear the idea of my soul being hideous.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

Soul, Idea

“If we seem to get no good by attempting to draw near to Him, we may be sure we will get none by keeping away from Him.”

John Newton (1725–1807) Anglican clergyman and hymn-writer

Drawing

“Good books don't give up all their secrets at once.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Secret, Books

“If one plays good music, people don't listen, and if one plays bad music people don't talk.”

Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest

Algernon, Act I.
Source: The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
Context: Of course the music is a great difficulty. You see, if one plays good music, people don't listen, and if one plays bad music people don't talk.

People, Music

“Good and bad is tricky," she said. "I ain't too certain about where people stand. P'raps what matters is which way you face.”

Terry Pratchett book Witches Abroad

Source: Witches Abroad

People, Way

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Carlos Ruiz Zafón book Marina

Source: Marina

Hell

“Above all else, it is about leaving a mark that I existed: I was here. I was hungry. I was defeated. I was happy. I was sad. I was in love. I was afraid. I was hopeful. I had an idea and I had a good purpose and that's why I made works of art.”

Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957–1996) American artist

Love, Sadness, Hope, Art

“If you didn't do anything that wasn't good for you it would be a very dull life. What are you gonna do? Everything that is pleasant in life is dangerous. Have you noticed that? I'd like to find the bastard that thought that one up.”

Lemmy Kilmister (1945–2015) British singer-songwriter

Life

“A thousand times good night. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light. Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, but love from love, toward school with heavy looks.”

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet

Love, Books, School, Light

“Our whole life is startlingly moral. There is never an instant's truce between virtue and vice. Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

Life

“When goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.”

Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850) French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly

note: Probably coined by Otto T. Mallery (1881-1956) in his 1943 book Economic Union and Durable Peace (he doesn't attribute it to Bastiat, although Bastiat has written similar ideas)
Source: Ref: en.wikiquote.org - Frédéric Bastiat / Misattributed

https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/did-bastiat-say-when-goods-don-t-cross-borders-soldiers-will note: Misattributed

“The universe was good because he was in it.”

E. Lockhart book We Were Liars

Source: We Were Liars

Universe

“Something must be wrong with me to stop a good girl-on-girl fight”

P. C. Cast (1960) American writer

Girl, Fight

“Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference: the one takes account only of the visible effect; the other takes account of both the effects which are seen and those which it is necessary to foresee.”

Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850) French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly

That which is seen and that which is not seen (Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas, 1850), the Introduction.
Context: In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession — they are not seen: it is well for us, if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference: the one takes account only of the visible effect; the other takes account of both the effects which are seen and those which it is necessary to foresee. Now this difference is enormous, for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favourable, the ultimate consequences are fatal, and the converse. Hence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil.

“Anything that feels good couldn't possibly be bad.”

Angelina Jolie (1975) American actress, film director, and screenwriter

Feeling

“Some people's blameless lives are to blame for a good deal.”

Dorothy L. Sayers book Gaudy Night

Source: Gaudy Night

People

“I believe in reincarnation,” [Bjorn] said.
I KNOW.
“I tried to live a good life. Does that help?”
THAT’S NOT UP TO ME. Death coughed. OF COURSE… SINCE YOU BELIEVE IN REINCARNATION… YOU’LL BE BJORN AGAIN.”

Terry Pratchett book Men at Arms

Source: Men at Arms

Life, Death, Help

“That man is such a damn turd monkey."
"Grandma!" I said.
"Oh, Zoeybird, did I call your mother's husband a damn turd monkey out loud?"
"Yes, Grandma, you did."
She looked at me, her dark eyes sparkling. "Good.”

Kristin Cast book Chosen

Source: Chosen

Grandma

“Having sex is like bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Sex

“Be of good courage all is before you, and time passed in the difficult is never lost… What is required of us is that we live the difficult and learn to deal with it. In the difficult are the friendly forces, the hands that work on us.”

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian poet and writer

Courage, Learning, Time

“Good men and bad men alike are capable of weakness. The difference is simply that a bad man will be proud all his life of one good deed - while an honest man is hardly aware of his good acts, but remembers a single sin for years on end.”

Vasily Grossman book Life and Fate

Source: Life and Fate

Life, Men

“Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way.”

Stanisław Lem (1921–2006) Polish science fiction author

"Pirx's Tale" in More Tales of Pirx The Pilot (1983)
Context: Oh, I read good books, too, but only Earthside. Why that is, I don't really know. Never stopped to analyze it. Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way. When they talk about outer space, they make you feel the silence, so unlike the Earthly kind — and the lifelessness. Whatever the adventures, the message is always the same: humans will never feel at home out there.

Truth, Books, Way

“I mean, it's not surprising, really. Once you love something, you always love it in some way. You have to. It's, like, part of you for good.”

Sarah Dessen book What Happened to Goodbye

What Happened To Goodbye (2011)
Source: What Happened to Goodbye

Love, Way, Parting

“The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

1960s
Source: Introduction to 1961 edition of Sceptical Essays (1961)
Context: The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.

Passion

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister

“I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.”

Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) English writer, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer

Variant: She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).
Source: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

“Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who holds a low opinion of himself.”

Anthony Trollope book Orley Farm

Source: Orley Farm

“To see evil and call it good, mocks God. Worse, it makes goodness meaningless. A word without meaning is an abomination, for when the word passes beyond understanding the very thing the word stands for passes out of the world and cannot be recalled.”

Stephen R. Lawhead book Arthur

Source: Arthur

God, World, Understanding, Evil

“drama is a good book”

Raina Telgemeier book Drama

Source: Drama

Books

“Confusion is a good state to be in. It means you are looking, constantly looking. People ask me, "Why do you confuse us like this?" I want you to understand, if you can be confused by anybody, it means you do not know. If you are fanatical, you cannot be confused. Or if you are realized, you cannot be confused. Between ignorance and enlightenment is a very thin line. But they are worlds apart.”

Sadhguru (1957) Yogi, mystic, visionary and humanitarian

Source: Of Mystics & Mistakes

People, World, Understanding

“Fear is good in small amounts, but when it is a constant, pounding companion, it cuts away at who you are”

Christopher Paolini book Inheritance

Murtagh, in parting words to Eragon
Source: Inheritance (2011)
Context: When you teach them—teach them not to fear. Fear is good in small amounts, but when it is a constant, pounding companion, it cuts away at who you are and makes it hard to do what is right.

Fear

“The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

1920s, What I Believe (1925)
Source: Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Value

Relationship, Cute, Love, Life

“This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

Chicago, IL http://www.trsite.org/content/pages/speaking-loudly (17 June 1912) 1910s

Country

“There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.”

John Fowles book The French Lieutenant's Woman

Source: The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), Ch. 13, p. 99

Freedom, God

“You're so good looking I can barely keep my eyes on the meter.”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

Source: Manhattan

“The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

1790s, Farewell Address (1796)

Faith, Perfection

“The minute you become conscious that you are doing good, that's the minute you have to stop because from then on it's wrong.”

Paula Fox (1923–2017) Amercian book author

“Parker: She believed, absolutely, that each person, each heart, had a counterpart—had a mate. A rightness. She’d always believed it, and understood that unshakable belief was a reason she was good at what she did.”

Nora Roberts (1950) American romance writer

Heart, Personality

“Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly if they even roll a few more upon it.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

Source: The Spiritual Life (1947), p. 164
Context: Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly if they even roll a few more upon it. A strength which becomes clearer and stronger through its experience of such obstacles is the only strength that can conquer them. Resistance is only a waste of strength.

People, Way

“One of the highlights of the first Good Omens tour was Neil and I walking through New York singing Shoehorn with Teeth. Well, we'd had a good breakfast. And you don't get mugged, either.”

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) English author

Source: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

Singing

“Atra esterni' ono thelduin
Mor' rana li'fa unin hjarta onr
Un du evari'nya ono varda

(May good fortune rule over you
peace live in your heart
may the stars watch over you)”

Christopher Paolini (1983) American author

Source: Eragon & Eldest

Peace, Star, Heart

“… we will stand amazed to see the topside of the tapestry and how God beautifully embroidered each circumstance into a pattern for our good and His glory.”

Joni Eareckson Tada (1949) American artist

God