Quotes about goodness
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“He does not deserve this. He has done many things, not all good, but he does not deserve this. And he never did get his priest.”

Neal Shusterman book Unwind

Source: Unwind

“Many people are good at talking about what they are doing, but in fact do little. Others do a lot but don't talk about it; they are the ones who make a community live.”

Jean Vanier (1928–2019) Canadian humanitarian

From books
Source: Jean Vanier, Community And Growth, 1979

People, Communication

“The warmth of his body shouldn’t have felt good. He was angry and every muscle was tense. It was like being leaned on by a very heavy, warm brick. A sexy brick.”

Patricia Briggs book Iron Kissed

Source: Iron Kissed

“It is good to test your limits now and then, learn what the body is capable of, what you can endure.”

Christina Baker Kline (1964) American writer

Source: Orphan Train

Learning

“Of all the things I am not very good at, living in the real world is perhaps the most outstanding. I am constantly filled with wonder at the number of things that other people do without any evident difficulty that are pretty much beyond me.”

Bill Bryson (1951) American author

Source: I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away

People, World

“You're in an awfully good mood," he observed. "Was there a sale at Khakis-R-Us?”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

Mood

“If you permit your thoughts to dwell on evil you yourself will become ugly. Look only for the good in everything so you absorb the quality of beauty.”

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship

Beauty, Evil

“If you listen very carefully, you can hear the good fairy come in the night and leave our assignment for tomorrow.”

Orson Scott Card book Ender's Game

Source: Ender's Game

Night

“What, I should only trust good people? Man, good people get bought and sold every day. Might as well trust somebody evil once in a while, it makes no more or less sense.”

Thomas Pynchon book Inherent Vice

Source: Inherent Vice

People, Sense, Evil

“To be a good cook you have to have a love of the good, a love of hard work, and a love of creating.”

Julia Child (1921–2004) American chef

Source: Particular Passions: Talks With Women Who Have Shaped Our Times

Love, Cooking

“Lewis: "Oh, no."
Kaitlyn: "Lewis?"
Lewis: "Hi, Kaitlyn. Hi. Rob."
Rob: "G'way, Lewis. I'm sleeping."
Kaitlyn: "Hi. Anna."
Anna: "Hi, Kait."
Lewis: "Hi, Anna."
Gabriel: "And good night, John-Boy! Shut the hell up, all of you!”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: The Strange Power

Boy, Hell, Sleep, Night

“I have never yet figured out what to do about good advice that you get, and that you know right away would help you, but that you cannot follow.”

Holly Lisle (1960) American writer

Source: The Silver Door

Help

“You are entering a phase of your life in which many different things will occur… bad things that seem good at first and good things that seem bad at first.”

Haruki Murakami book The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Source: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Life

“Tell me how bad I am… it makes me feel so good.”

Anne Rice book The Queen of the Damned

Last line
Source: The Queen of the Damned (1988)

Feeling

“The problems we face, did not come down from the heavens. They are made, they are made by bad human decisions, and good human decisions can change them.”

Bernie Sanders (1941) American politician, senator for Vermont

Problem, Decision, Change

“The most basic and somehow forgettable thing is this: Love is not pain. Love is goodness.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

Source: The Secret Life of Prince Charming

Love, Pain

“Even the stove and the refrigerator looked human, I mean good human - they seemed to have arms and voices and they said, hang around, kid, it's good here, it can be very good here.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories

“Most beautiful, good things were done by women people scorn.”

Gillian Flynn book Gone Girl

Source: Gone Girl

Women, People, Beauty

“Plus, humor is a good way to hide the pain. - Leo”

Rick Riordan book The Lost Hero

Variant: Humor was a good way to hide the pain.
Source: The Lost Hero

Pain, Way

“You should only read what is truly good or what is frankly bad.”

Ernest Hemingway book A Moveable Feast

Source: A Moveable Feast

Reading

“Prison always has been a good place for writers, killing, as it does, the twin demons of mobility and diversion”

Dan Simmons book Hyperion

Source: Hyperion

“It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar.”

Jerome K. Jerome (1859–1927) English humorist

Idler Magazine, Volume 1 http://books.google.com/books?id=vMYaAAAAYAAJ&q=exceptionally+good+liar#search_anchor|The

Truth

“It's not always so simple, Haven. Sometimes there isn't a good guy and a bad guy. Sometimes even the ones you want to believe turn out to be liars.”

Sarah Dessen book That Summer

Source: That Summer

Guy

“Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good:
Round these, with tendrils strong as flesh and blood,
Our pastime and our happiness will grow.”

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Romantic poet

Personal Talk, sonnet 3 (1806).

Books, World, Dreams, Strong

“Marks forget that whenever something's too good to be true, that's because it's a con.”

Holly Black book White Cat

Source: White Cat

Forgetting

“Everything good in life is either immoral, illegal or fattening.”

Nicole Richie (1981) American television personality, musician, actress, and author

Life

“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.”

Marianne Williamson (1952) American writer

Joy

“… There was nothing one could do when love came. It was fast, and it was strong, and if it were not good, then surely God would not have allowed it such power.”

Luis Alberto Urrea (1955) Mexican-American poet

Source: The Hummingbird's Daughter

Love, God, Strong

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”

Joseph Addison (1672–1719) politician, writer and playwright

This appears as an anonymous proverb in Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine Vol. XIII, (January - June 1883) edited by T. De Witt Talmage, and apparently only in recent years has it become attributed to Addison.
Disputed

Cute, Life, Smile, Flowers

“Good grief, Molly. He doesn't scare you?"
"Of course not."
"But he's…"
"He's sweet," Molly insisted.
Dare snorted. "He's still listening.”

Lori Foster (1958) American writer

Source: When You Dare

“This is what happens when nice people are pushed too far. We give too many chances, and so when we've finally had enough, we are well and truly done. When a nice person shuts a door on you, it's shut for good.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

Source: He's Gone

People, Chance, Personality

“If there's one thing on this planet you don't look like it's a bunch of good luck walkin around.”

Cormac McCarthy book No Country for Old Men

Source: No Country for Old Men

“I don’t know,” Call said. He was starting to worry that there weren’t any good guys. Just people with longer or shorter Evil Overlord lists.”

Holly Black (1971) American children's fiction writer

Source: The Copper Gauntlet

People, Guy, Evil

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.”

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

Life, Cheating

“For every bad thing in life, there are more good things to tip the balance.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus on Top

Life

“Even as she'd been writing it, she wondered if she was using too many exclamation marks, but she was glad she left them in. Nothing says "all is good in the world" like exclamation marks, after all.”

Derek Landy (1974) Irish children's writer

Source: Kingdom of the Wicked

World

“He did a very good impression of a stone column.”

Shannon Hale Princess Academy

Source: Princess Academy

“Ah, Mastery of the Five Elements!"
"Is that the one we want?" I asked.
"No, but a good one. How to tame the five essential elements of the universe - earth, air, water, fire, and cheese!"
"Cheese?”

Rick Riordan book The Red Pyramid

Source: The Red Pyramid

Universe, Water

“Most of the mess that is called history comes about because kings and presidents cannot be satisfied with a nice chicken and a good loaf of bread.”

Jennifer Donnelly book Revolution

Source: Revolution

History

“Affliction is a good man's shining time.”

Edward Young (1683–1765) English poet

Affliction, Time

“They were steaming out of the station before Maia asked, 'Was it books in the trunk?'
'It was books, admitted Miss Minton.
And Maia said, 'Good.”

Eva Ibbotson book Journey to the River Sea

Source: Journey to the River Sea

Books

“Is he making you happy? I don’t mean some of the time, on rare occasions, not that often, “but the good still outweighs the bad.” Does he make it clear in his actions every day that your happiness is important to him?”

Greg Behrendt (1963) American comedian

Source: He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys

Time, Happiness

“Im studying jerkoffs in the wild," Ben answered dryly. "This seemed like a good chance to view one up close.”

Kathy Reichs book Code

Source: Code

Study, Chance

“Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.”

Robert A. Heinlein Time Enough for Love

Source: Time Enough for Love

Children, Beauty, Intelligence, Birth

“Mrs. Gautier, I hear there are places online where you can sell children for a good price. Nick is still young enough, he should fetch enough to tide you over for a bit.” – Rosa”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Invincible

Children

“Look," I whisper to Cat, "Shooting star! That's good luck."
She rolls her eyes. "It's a plane, you idiot," she says, and when I look again I can see that she's right. Typical.”

Cathy Cassidy (1962) British author of young adult fiction

Source: Lucky Star

Star, Cats

“It's a good thing I've got to live with you two or I'd be putting this on YouTube later. And mocking you”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Fade Out

“A woman will forget that a man is male, if they are good enough friends, but men rarely forget that a woman is feminine.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Cerulean Sins

Source: Cerulean Sins

Men, Forgetting

“I don't expect you to understand anything I'm telling you. But I know you will remember this — that nothing good ever ends. If it did, there would be no people in the world — no life at all, anywhere. And the world is full of people and full of wonderful life.”

William Saroyan book The Human Comedy

Source: The Human Comedy (1943)
Context: Death is not an easy thing for anyone to understand, least of all a child, but every life shall one day end. But as long as we are alive, as long as we are together, as long as two of us are left, and remember him, nothing in the world can take him from us. His body can be taken, but not him. You shall know your father better as you grow and know yourself better. He is not dead, because you are alive. Time and accident, illness and weariness took his body, but already you have given it back to him, younger and more eager than ever. I don't expect you to understand anything I'm telling you. But I know you will remember this — that nothing good ever ends. If it did, there would be no people in the world — no life at all, anywhere. And the world is full of people and full of wonderful life.

Life, People, World, Understanding

“We women aren't good at hints. We like solid declarations of love and forever.”

Jude Deveraux (1947) American writer

Source: True Love

Love, Women

“No matter how hard Evil tries, it can never quite match up to the power of Good, because Evil is ultimately self-destructive. Evil may set out to corrupt others, but in the process corrupts itself.”

John Connolly (1968) author

Source: The Infernals

Evil

“I prefer a story that has the good sense to stay on the page where it belongs.
- Elinor”

Cornelia Funke Inkheart trilogy

Source: Inkheart

Sense

“Good people don’t make fewer mistakes, they’re just better at apologizing.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Here I Am

Source: Here I Am

People

“I believe in the goodness of fellow human beings. We have a true desire for greatness and genuine good intention to be helpful to others. That's enough. Change is possible.”

Ilchi Lee (1950) South Korean businessman

Source: Change: Realizing Your Greatest Potential

Change, Help

“There's naught as nice as th' smell o' good clean earth, except th' smell o' fresh growin' things when th' rain falls on 'em.”

Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden

Source: The Secret Garden

“People complain about the bad things that happen to em that they don't deserve but they seldom mention the good. About what they done to deserve them things. I don't recall that I ever give the good Lord all that much cause to smile on me. But he did.”

Cormac McCarthy book No Country for Old Men

Source: No Country for Old Men (2005)

People, Smile

“He wondered how we know that what happens to us isn't good.”

Amy Hempel (1951) Short story writer

Source: Reasons to Live

“All human beings search for either reasons to be good, or excuses to be bad.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Tell-All

Source: Tell-All

“For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and satisfied, drove on into the night.”

Douglas Adams book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Source: So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

Feeling, Night

“Trust is always a good idea. For someone else.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Idea

“Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by.”

Ralph Ellison book Shadow and Act

Shadow and Act (New York: Random House, 1964), Introduction, p. xix; in The Collected Essays, ed. John F. Callahan (New York: Modern Library, 1995), p. 56.

Reality

“I believe a woman, in order to be a good wife, must be (among other things) both sensual and maternal.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Source: Let Me be a Woman

Maternity

“Fire isn’t good or bad. It just burns.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Bloodfever

“These men were like leeches; they sucked away at the goodness of a woman's heart until it was dry and all her love had been used up. That took a long time, he knew, because women seemed to have vast reservoirs of goodness in them”

Alexander McCall Smith The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Source: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Love, Women, Men, Time

“Prayer is like water - something you can't imagine has the strength or power to do any good, and yet give it time and it can change the lay of the land.”

Jodi Picoult book Sing You Home

Source: Sing You Home

Imagination, Water, Change, Time

“I know, better than anyone else, that there are no heroes coming to save us. There are no good Epics. None of them protect us. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: Steelheart

“Tell you what, you let me go, and I’ll ask you plenty of questions about your race. Until then, I’m slightly distracted with how this little vacation on the good ship Holy Sh*t is going to pan out for me.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Unbound

Source: Lover Unbound

Question

“I often think how unfairly life's good fortune is sometimes distributed.”

Leo Tolstoy book War and Peace

Source: War and Peace

Life, Thinking

“Good-bye Clarice. Will you let me know if ever the lambs stop screaming?" "Yes." Pembry was taking her arm. It was go or fight him. "Yes," she said. "I'll tell you." "Do you promise?""Yes.”

Thomas Harris The Silence of the Lambs

Source: The Silence of the Lambs

Fight

“As soon as we start putting our thoughts into words and sentences everything gets distorted, language is just no damn good—I use it because I have to, but I don’t put any trust in it. We never understand each other.”

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) French painter and sculptor

Understanding

“There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that truth is this: you deserve all good things life has to offer.”

Rhonda Byrne book The Secret

Source: The Secret

Life, Truth, Waiting

“Everything is an illusion; that is the whole thing about it - illusion, immitation, a mirage. It makes me too sad. Its having like a good dream, you know you are going to wake up.”

Francesca Lia Block (1962) American children's writer

Sadness, Dreams

“The secret of good cooking is, first, having a love of it… If you’re convinced that cooking is drudgery, you’re never going to be good at it, and you might as well warm up something frozen.”

James Beard (1903–1985) American chef

Love, Secret, Cooking

“One word can give someone the strengththey needed at the moment or it can shred them down to nothing. A single smile can turn a bad moment good. And one wrong outburstcould be that tiny push that causes someone to slip over the edge of destruction.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Infamous

Smile

“Some women pray for their daughters to marry good husbands. I pray that my girls will find girlfriends half as loyal and true as the Ya-Yas.”

Rebecca Wells book Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Source: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Women, Girl, Daughters

“Love binds, and it binds forever. Good binds while evil unravels. Separation is another word for evil; it is also another word for deceit.”

Michel Houellebecq book Atomised

Source: The Elementary Particles

Love, Evil

“Changing the world is good for those who want their names in books. But being happy, that is for those who write their names in the lives of others, and hold the hearts of others as the treasure most dear.”

Orson Scott Card book Children of the Mind

Source: Children of the Mind

Books, World, Change, Heart

“The ratman froze, staring at me. "Why are you laughing?" His voice held just a hint of unease. Good.
I was hoping that the vampires would come for me soon and save me. You've got to admit that's funny.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Guilty Pleasures

Source: Guilty Pleasures

Hope

“Italian men are like show poodles. Sometimes they look so good I want to applaud.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

Men

“Sounis had been thinking of Ambiades. "He would have been a better man under different circumstances."
Gen looked at him. "True enough," he said. "But does a good man let his circumstances determine his character?”

Megan Whalen Turner book A Conspiracy of Kings

Source: A Conspiracy of Kings

Thinking

“Still, they have one thing I envy. Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.”

Markus Zusak book The Book Thief

Variant: Humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.
Source: The Book Thief

Sense, Envy

“Kneeling before him, Regin murmured, "Don't let that Fegley worm get to you." Still staring ahead, the kid slowed his banging. "There's a good… male of indeterminate species.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

“It's good when food tastes good, it's kind of like proof you're alive.”

Haruki Murakami book Norwegian Wood

Source: Norwegian Wood

Food

“Every once in a while you just have to decide to do something very crazy and very right--just to dare yourself to live. I don't mean doing something stupid and destructive--just something fun and good and beautiful.”

Regina Doman (1970) American writer

Source: The Shadow of the Bear

Stupidity, Beauty

“The cure for a broken heart is simple, my lady. A hot bath and a good night's sleep.”

Margaret George (1943) American writer

Source: Mary Queen of Scotland and The Isles

Heartbreaking, Sad, Moving On, Sleep

“Sobriety is okay enough," Denny says, "but someday, I'd like to live a life based on doing good stuff instead of just not doing bad stuff. You know?”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Life

“Roses! I swear you men have all your romance from the same worn book. Flowers are a good thing, a sweet thing to give a lady. But it is always roses, always red, and always perfect hothouse blooms when they can come by them.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Name of the Wind

Source: The Name of the Wind

Men, Books, Flowers, Perfection

“She had reason to doubt him; he was real good at planning but real bad at doing.”

Junot Díaz book Drown

Source: Drown

“No good deed goes unpunished.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

“I am not loved. I am not a beautiful soul. I am not a good-natured, giving person. I am not anybody's savior.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Love, Beauty, Soul, Nature

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but Nature's sources never fail. … The petty discomforts that beset the awkward guest, the unskilled camper, are quickly forgotten, while all that is precious remains. Fears vanish as soon as one is fairly free in the wilderness.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

" The Yellowstone National Park http://books.google.com/books?id=smQCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA509", The Atlantic Monthly, volume LXXXI, number 486 (April 1898) pages 509-522 (at pages 515-516); modified slightly and reprinted in Our National Parks http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/our_national_parks/ (1901), chapter 2: The Yellowstone National Park <br class="br">1900s, Our National Parks (1901)

Age, Fear, Peace, Mountain

“But we were all young once. It passes, like innocence and a sense of fair play. The only thing left in the end is a good instinct for survival.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Circus of the Damned

Source: Circus of the Damned

Sense