Quotes about goodness page 25
David Benatar (1966) South African philosopher
Source: Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence (2006), Introduction, p. 6
“It is a good shrewd proverb of the Spaniard, Tell a lie and find a truth.”
Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author
The Essays Or Counsels, Civil And Moral, Of Francis Ld. Verulam Viscount St. Albans (1625), Of Simulation And Dissimulation
“A moment of weakness comes, for everyone, but then he feels stupid, and listens to his good sense.”
Richard Wagner (1813–1883) German composer, conductor
Original: (de) "Die schwache Stunde kommt für jeden, da wird er dumm und lässt mit sich reden."
Source: Quotes from his operas, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Hans Sachs, Act 3 Scene 3
Dominic Cummings (1971) English political strategist
Quoted in The Times, 16 June 2014 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cameron-bumbles-from-one-shambles-to-another-with-no-sense-of-purpose-d2vxlbxchvf
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
Source: Address And Declaration At a Select Meeting Of The Friends Of Universal Peace And Liberty https://thomaspaine.org/essays/french-revolution/address-and-declaration.html (August 20, 1791)
Marcin Malek (1975) Polish writer
Source: We'll go asleep, poems and ballads, "Untill she is to close", pg 64
Whoopi Goldberg (1955) American actress
As quoted in "Whoopi Goldberg, A One-Woman Character Parade" https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=68252476 by Michael Kuchwara, AP Drama Writer, The Fremont News-Messenger (November 29, 1984), p. 31.
Marquis de Sade Philosophy in the Bedroom
Yet Another Effort, Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans
Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795)
“Goals are good for planning your progress and systems are good for actually making progress.”
James Clear (1986) American author and speaker
Source: https://jamesclear.com/goals-systems
“The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
Commonly attributed to Paine, even on memorials https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Paine_Plaque_NY.jpg|, and justly describes his ideals, but found nowhere in his writings. It is actually is derived from a quote in Rights of Man: Part 2, "My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." <br class="br">Misattributed
“To supply goods is a source of profit, but to supply services is a ' burden upon industry.”
Joan Robinson (1903–1983) English economist
It is for this reason that when, as a nation, ' we have never had it so good ' we find that we ' cannot afford ' just what we most need.
Source: Contributions to Modern Economics (1978), Chapter 21, Latter-Day Capitalism, p. 239
Brigit of Kildare (451–525) Irish abbess and saint
Prayer traditionally attributed to St. Brigit, as quoted in Prayers of the Saints: An Inspired Collection of Holy Wisdom (1996), by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker, p. 77
“If you're with me in my bad time, definitely, my good time will be yours.”
Lucky Gupta (1998) Internet celebrity
2020
“Being positive is attracting good energy to you, without needing to suck energy from others.”
Valter Bitencourt Júnior (1994) Brazilian poet and writer
“The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.”
Plato (-427–-347 BC) Classical Greek philosopher
“I’ve decided to be happy because it is good for my health.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
John McAfee (1945) American computer programmer and businessman
Source: on Twitter https://twitter.com/officialmcafee/status/1316801215083225096, 16 October 2020
“Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!”
Josephine Bakhita (1868–1947) Italian saint and former slave
Quoted in "Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947)", The Holy See https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_giuseppina-bakhita_en.html.
“What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
Often given as a saying of Aristotle with no reference.
Disputed
“I've done it, be of good cheer.”
Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (1598–1653) Dutch admiral
Western European nobility » Maarten Harpertsz. "Maarten" Tromp (1598-1653) https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/west-europese-adel/I157344.php Tromp's last words.
Alex Morgan (1989) American soccer player
"The Advice Alex Morgan Would Give Her Daughter About Getting Into Sports" https://www.romper.com/life/alex-morgan-olympics-daughter-interview (July 10, 2021)
Marcelo H. del Pilar (1850–1896) Filipino writer, lawyer, and journalist (1850-1896)
Source: Marcelo H. del Pilar's last words to Mariano Ponce (4 July 1896)
“You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Often attributed to Churchill, this thought was originally expressed by the French author Victor Hugo in Villemain (1845), as follows: You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.
Villemain is a brief segment taken from Hugo's Choses Vues (Things Seen), a running journal Hugo kept of events he witnessed. The original French versions of these journals were published after Hugo's death.
Misattributed
“If you want to change the system, change the system. It's no good shooting people.”
John Lennon (1940–1980) English singer and songwriter
Playboy interview (1980)
Jeremy Bentham book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
Source: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789; 1823), Ch. 10: Of Motives
Frank Zappa (1940–1993) American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and film producer
New York Daily News interview (1979)
Bob Marley (1945–1981) Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician
Easy Skanking, from the album Kaya (1978) · Video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlqB13iJu2o <br class="br">Song lyrics
“To have beauty is to have only that,
but to have goodness
is to be beautiful
too.”
Sappho (-630–-570 BC) ancient Greek lyric poet
http://books.google.com/books?id=btVfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22To+have+beauty+is+to+have+only+that+but+to+have+goodness+is+to+be+beautiful+too%22&pg=PA29#v=onepage
Suzy Q. Groden translations, Beauty
Cyrus the Great (-600–-530 BC) King and founder of the Achaemenid Empire
After being suggested by Artembares, grandfather of Artayctes, to abandon the rocky land of Persia Proper for a better region in the empire. <br class="br">Source: As quoted by Herodotus, in the final section of The Histories; cited in https://books.google.com/books?id=2fZmqKcsf-wC&pg=PT362&lpg=PT362
Warren G. Harding (1865–1923) American politician, 29th president of the United States (in office from 1921 to 1923)
1918 address to the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution.
Pope Francis (1936) 266th Pope of the Catholic Church
2020s, 2021 <br class="br">Source: Cited in Pope Francis: Art creates brotherhood and friendship https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-12/pope-francis-art-creates-brotherhood-and-friendship.html in the Vatican News. (15 December 2021)
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
Source: Introduction to 1961 edition of Sceptical Essays (1961)
Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter
"Very well thanks and how are you?" <br class="br">"Say Goodbye" (song) <br class="br">Song lyrics <br class="br">Source: Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Say Goodbye" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCLuE28J-WU (song on YouTube)
“The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.”
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
“I've seen hate change many things for the worse. I've seen love change everything for the good.”
George Jones (1931–2013) American musician, singer and songwriter
Source: I Lived to Tell It All (1996, ebook 2014), Page 205.
John Taylor Gatto book Dumbing Us Down
Source: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992), p. 14
“A good poet is of no more use to his country than a good petanque player.”
Paul Valéry (1871–1945) French poet, essayist, and philosopher
Source: Unsourced
So don't worry if now your time is bad it's making you strong so nothing can effect you in future
Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology
If it's a pattern that repeats in many, many places, with variation, you can abstract out the central pattern. So the pattern never purely existed in any specific form, but the fact that you pulled a pattern out from all those exemplars means that you've extracted something real. I think the reason that the story of Adam and Eve has been immune to being forgotten is because it says things about the nature of the human condition that are always true.
Other
Benedict Cumberbatch (1976) English actor and film producer
Sometimes it doesn’t fit with the cast or the energy of the scene or the beat of another character. But to sit down in the audience and go: “Oh my God, I think that was what I intended”, was great. <br class="br"> "Benedict Cumberbatch: ‘I loved not being a people-pleaser’" in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/dec/17/benedict-cumberbatch-i-loved-not-being-a-people-pleaser (17 December 2021)
Kanye West (1977) American rapper, singer and songwriter
Welcome to Heartbreak
Lyrics, 808s & Heartbreak (2008)
Cleopatra VII (-69–-30 BC) last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt
Source: As quoted, Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Act III, movie XV, (1623)
Elon Musk (1971) South African-born American entrepreneur
Elon Musk talks Twitter, Tesla and how his brain works — live at TED2022 https://www.ted.com/talks/elon_musk_elon_musk_talks_twitter_tesla_and_how_his_brain_works_live_at_ted2022, April 14, 2022 (at 19:39)
George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist
Letter to Humphry House (11 April 1940). The Collected Essays, Journalism & Letters, George Orwell: An Age Like This, 1920–1940, Editors: Sonia Orwell, Ian Angus. p. 530 http://books.google.com/books?id=0j2qODEJkdoC&pg=PA530#v=onepage&q&f=false.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States
1880s
Source: Ibid, January 1886 https://www.history.com/news/teddy-roosevelt-race-imperialism-national-parks
“That there’s some good in this world. And it’s worth fighting for.”
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) British philologist and author, creator of classic fantasy works
Context: Frodo : What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for
“If you can't be a good example, then be a terrible warning.”
Jennifer Crusie (1949) American writer
Variant: If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
-Gwen Goodnight
Source: Faking It
“Intention, good or bad, is not enough.”
John Steinbeck book The Winter of Our Discontent
Source: The Winter of Our Discontent
“Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.”
Edgar Degas (1834–1917) French artist
Quoted in Artists on Art: From the XIV to the XX Century, ed. Robert Goldwater (Pantheon, 1945)
quotes, undated
“Be not simply good; be good for something.”
Henry David Thoreau book Life Without Principle
Source: Life Without Principle
Gregory Maguire book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Source: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author
Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
“I thought clay must feel happy in the good potter's hand.”
Janet Fitch book White Oleander
Source: White Oleander