Quotes about goodness
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“No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so.”

Arthur Conan Doyle book A Study in Scarlet

Source: A Study in Scarlet

“it's good to know who hates you and it is good to be hated by the right people”

Johnny Cash (1932–2003) American singer-songwriter

Hate, People

“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

Dylan Thomas (1914–1953) Welsh poet and writer

Source: In Country Sleep, and Other Poems

Good Night, For Father, Light, Rage

“How true Daddy's words were when he said: all children must look after their own upbringing. Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.”

Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

Children, Parent, Personality

“Flying down a tunnel of 1s and 0s is not how hacking is really done. The staff here has been really good about staying away from the cartoony version.”

Walter O'Brien (1975) Irish businessman, founder of Scorpion Computer Services

Scorpion's Origin

Flying

“Look, when you realize how fake it all is; the football, the basketball, the Lady Gaga, the Justin Bieber—you know, who gives you these carbon tax messages. They tell your kids they gotta love Justin Biebler [sic], and then Biebler [sic] says "hand in your guns", "pass the Cyber Security Act", and "the police state is good", and then your children are turned into a mindless vassals—who now, they look up to some twit, instead of looking up to Thomas Jefferson, or looking up to Nikola Tesla, or looking up to Magellan; I mean, kids, Magellan is a lot cooler than Justin Bieber! He circumnavigated with one ship the entire planet! He was killed by wild natives before they got back to Portugal! And when they got back there was only like eleven people alive of the two hundred and something crew and the entire ship was rotting down to the waterline! That's destiny! That's will! That's striving! That's being a trailblazer and explore! Going into space! Mathematics! Quantum mechanics! The secrets of the universe! It's all there! Life is fiery with its beauty! Its incredible detail! Tuning into it! They wanna shutter your mind, talking about Justin Bieber! It's pure evil! They're taking your intellect, your soul, and giving you Michael Jordan and Bieber. Unlock your human potential! Defeat the globalists who wanna shutter your mind!—Your doorways to perception!—I wanna see you truly live! I wanna see you truly be who you are!”

Alex Jones (1974) American radio host, author, conspiracy theorist and filmmaker

Alex Jones: The "Justin Biebler" Rant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDMB0KyhPN8, 21 February 2011. 2011

Love, Life, Children, People

“I'm blowin' up like you thought I would, call the crib up, same number same hood, its all good.”

The Notorious B.I.G. (1972–1997) American rapper

Song lyrics, Ready to Die (1994), "Juicy"

“None of his colleagues noticed who had arrived, they responded to his greetings as they always did, Good morning, Senhor José, they said and they did not know to whom they were speaking.”

José Saramago book All the Names

Source: All the Names (1997), p. 16

“Few are the women and maidens who would let themselves think that one could at the same time be joyous and modest. They are all bold and coarse in their speech, in their demeanor wild and lewd. That is now the fashion of being in good cheer. But it is specially evil that the young maiden folk are exceedingly bold of speech and bearing, and curse like troopers, to say nothing of their shameful words and scandalous coarse sayings, which one always hears and learns from another.”

Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

Women, Fashion, Thinking, Learning

“Sometimes I am tempted to believe that I am better than anybody because I know Him. And then I remember that, I don't know him because I was smart enough to figure out some riddle. And I don't know him because I was good enough to ascend into heaven on my own and shake hands with him and meet him. Of all the things that make God awesome, the most awesome thing in the world that I can imagine from a god is that one who would be holy, and one that would be just,… and one that would be innocent and beautiful, and would have no need of me… that someone like that could love me is amazing. And uh, that does not make me a good person; but it makes Him a great God!”

Rich Mullins (1955–1997) American christian musician

Louisville, Kentucky http://www.kidbrothers.net/words/concert-transcripts/louisville-kentucky-jun2594.html (June 25, 1994) In Concert

Love, God, World, Beauty

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread.”

Edward Abbey book Desert Solitaire

"Down the River", p. 148
Desert Solitaire (1968)

Water

“I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that when we die and it comes time for God to judge us, He will not ask, "How many good things have you done in your life?," rather He will ask, "How much love did you put into what you did?”

Matka Tereza (1910–1997) Roman Catholic saint of Albanian origin

Quoted in: Honor Books, ‎W. B. Freeman (2004), God's Little Devotional Book for Girls, p. 205
2000s

Love, Life, God, Time

“I have killed, robbed, and injured too many white men to believe in a good peace. They are medicine, and I would eventually die a lingering death. I had rather die on the field of battle.”

Sitting Bull (1831–1890) Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man

Recorded by Charles Larpenteur at Fort Union in 1867. Published in Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1993. p. 73.

Death, Men, Peace

“I gotta big mouth, I can't help it, I talk from my heart, I'm real you know what I'm sayin whatever comes comes. But my controverse problems, It's not my fault, I try to find my way in the world you know, I try to be somebody instead of just, make money off of everybody. You know what im saying, so I go down paths that haven't been traveled before and I usually mess up, but I learn, you know what I'm saying, I come back stronger, I'm not talking ignorant, you know what I'm saying. So obviously put thought into what I do. So I think my mouth, my controverse, I have not been out of the paper since I joined Digital Underground, I've been in all, you know what I'm saying, my name has not been not uttered, you know what I'm saying, and that's good for me because I don't wanna be forgotten. If I'm forgotten then that means I'm comfortable and that means I think everything is okay.”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

1990s, MTV interview (1994)

Money, World, Way, Travel

“Sorry, girl. But, you missed out. Well tough luck; that boy's mine now. We are more than just good friends; this is how the story ends. Too bad that you couldn't see; see the man that boy could be. There is more than meets the eye; I see the soul that is inside. He was a boy, she was girl. Can I make it any more obvious? We are in love, haven't you heard? How, we rock each other's world!”

Avril Lavigne (1984) Canadian singer-songwriter and actress

"Sk8er Boi"
Let Go (2002)

Love, World, Soul, Girl

“I lived in Hollywood and I had all that, the Rolls Royce and the Ferrari and the pad in Beverly Hills. I had the surf board and the Beach Boys and the bishkis and the Neil Diamond and the ramskam and the Jimmy shriffen [ph. ] and the Elvis Presley's best of bestlies and all them guys. The Dean and Martins and the Nancy Sinatras and the cops and sovereigns, "Will you do it to me? I hear you do it good honey" and all that kind of "Will you come up to my house later?" So I went through all that and I seen that was a bigger prison than the one I just got out of and I really didn't care to go back in prison. See, prison doesn't begin and end at the gate. Prison is in the mind. It's locked in one world that's dead and dying, or it's open to a world that's free and alive.”

Charles Manson (1934–2017) American criminal and musician

NBC interview (1987)

World, Guy, Boy, Housing

“It is sad that often, to be a good patriot, one must be the enemy of the rest of mankind.”

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher

Il est triste que souvent, pour être bon patriote, on soit l'ennemi du reste des hommes.
"Country"
Citas, Dictionnaire philosophique (1764)

Sadness

“What men and women need is encouragement. Their natural resisting powers should be strengthened, not weakened…. Instead of always harping on a man's faults, tell him of his virtues. Try to pull him out of his rut of bad habits. Hold up to him his better self, his REAL self that can dare and do and win out!… The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious, and may revolutionize a whole town…. People radiate what is in their minds and in their hearts. If a man feels kindly and obliging, his neighbors will feel that way, too, before long. But if he scolds and scowls and criticizes — his neighbors will return scowl for scowl, and add interest!… When you look for the bad, expecting it, you will get it. When you know you will find the good — you will get that…. Tell your son Tom you KNOW he'll be glad to fill that woodbox — then watch him start, alert and interested!”

Eleanor H. Porter (1868–1920) American novelist

Works, Pollyanna (1913)

Women, Men, People, Beauty

“He had zero experience but he was really good. The irony is, given the fact that the character can't play very well, is that he's actually a brilliant footballer.”

Helena Bonham Carter (1966) British actress

Of co-star Greg Sulkin in film "66"; Evening Times (Glasgow); Nov 2, 2006; Andy Dougan; p. 3

Football

“I have not written all this to complain: I have simply written the truth. I do not intend by what I have written to compliment myself: I have simply set down exactly what happened. Since I have made it a point in this history to write the truth of every matter and to set down no more than the reality of every event, as a consequence I have reported every good and evil I have seen of father and brother and set down the actuality of every fault and virtue of relative and stranger. May the reader excuse me; may the listener take me not to task.”

Babur (1483–1530) 1st Mughal Emperor

As quoted in The Baburnama : Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, as translated by Wheeler M. Thackston (2002), p. xxvii

Truth, History, Reality, Evil

“A member of the human race who is completely incapable of understanding the higher productivity of labor performed under a division of labor based on private property is not properly speaking a person… but falls instead into the same moral category as an animal – of either the harmless sort (to be domesticated and employed as a producer or consumer good, or to be enjoyed as a “free good”) or the wild and dangerous one (to be fought as a pest). On the other hand, there are members of the human species who are capable of understanding the [value of the division of labor] but…who knowingly act wrongly… [B]esides having to be tamed or even physically defeated [they] must also be punished… to make them understand the nature of their wrongdoings and hopefully teach them a lesson for the future.”

Hans-Hermann Hoppe book Democracy: The God That Failed

Source: Democracy: The God That Failed (2001), P.173

Understanding, Nature, Future, Animals

“I am not surprised that men are not thankful to me; but I wonder that they are not grateful to God for the good which he has made me the instrument of conveying to my fellow-creatures.”

Edward Jenner (1749–1823) English physician, scientist and pioneer of vaccination

The Life of Edward Jenner: With Illustrations of His Doctrines, and Selections from His Correspondence https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=7K9iwCjoUgkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false, Vol. 2 (1838), by John Baron, p. 295

Men, God

“Look at me, see if I am poor, or my people either. The whites may get me at last, as you say, but I will have good times till then. You are fools to make yourselves slaves to a piece of fat bacon, some hard-tack, and a little sugar and coffee.”

Sitting Bull (1831–1890) Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man

Also told to Charles Larpenteur at Fort Union in 1867. Published in Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1993. p. 73.

People, Fools, Coffee, Time

“I have spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse, the existence of a hunted man.”

Al Capone (1899–1947) American gangster

As quoted in How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) by Dale Carnegie, p. 26

Life, People, Pleasure, Time

“When we understand this we see clearly that the subject round which the alternative senses play must be twofold. And we must therefore consider the subject of this work [the Divine Comedy] as literally understood, and then its subject as allegorically intended. The subject of the whole work, then, taken in the literal sense only is "the state of souls after death" without qualification, for the whole progress of the work hinges on it and about it. Whereas if the work be taken allegorically, the subject is "man as by good or ill deserts, in the exercise of the freedom of his choice, he becomes liable to rewarding or punishing justice."”
Hiis visis, manifestum est quod duplex oportet esse subiectum circa quod currant alterni sensus. Et ideo videndum est de subiecto huius operis, prout ad litteram accipitur; deinde de subiecto, prout allegorice sententiatur. Est ergo subiectum totius operis, litteraliter tantum accepti, status animarum post mortem simpliciter sumptus. Nam de illo et circa illum totius operis versatur processus. Si vero accipiatur opus allegorice, subiectum est homo, prout merendo et demerendo per arbitrii libertatem iustitie premiandi et puniendi obnoxius est.

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian poet

Letter to Can Grande (Epistle XIII, 23–25), as translated by Charles Singleton in his essay "Two Kinds of Allegory" published in Dante Studies 1 (Harvard University Press, 1954), p. 87.
Epistolae (Letters)

Death, Justice, Exercises, Soul

“Good, he did not have enough imagination to become a mathematician.”

David Hilbert (1862–1943) German prominent mathematician

Upon hearing that one of his students had dropped out to study poetry, as quoted in [http://books.google.com/?id=nnpChqstvg0C&pg=PA151 The Universal Book of Mathematics (2004) by David J. Darling, p. 151

Imagination

“It's so long ago now. Even I don't know the truth. If I had ever known it, I have long forgotten it. All I know is that I took the blame as a good CO should have been and was punished accordingly.”

Joachim Peiper (1915–1976) SS officer

Peiper on the Malmedy massacre, excerpted from A Traveler's Guide to the Battle for the German Frontier by Charles Whiting.

Truth

“Yeah. The guy's up against massive challenges, dealing with consequences, and figuring how to get what he wants and what he believes is right. He's living his worst nightmare, and he's doing everything he can. He's a damn good lawyer and he knows the system, but he's having to pull jokers out of his sleeve and win certain things on sheer willpower and gamble and meddle, you know? So that's what dramas allow, more so than a comedy. It's real-life consequences. The blows, the punches really hurt. The bullets really land. The people really bleed. People really cry. People really enjoy victory. People really feel pain and defeat. You can love harder. You can cry harder. You can be more angry, harder. That's what dramas allow.”

Matthew McConaughey (1969) American actor

" Exclusive interview with Matthew Mcconaughey http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/7774937/exclusive-interview-with-matthew-mcconaughey?page=all" on hollywood.com, March 18, 2011: On playing Mick Haller in the The Lincoln Lawyer

Love, Life, Pain, People

“My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three word loyalty pledge. It reads, "I'm with her." I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads, "I’m with you – the American people." I am your voice. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for a better future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m with you, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you. To all Americans tonight, in all of our cities and towns, I make this promise: We will make America proud again, we will make America strong again, we will make America safe again, and we will Make America Great Again! God bless you and good night! I love you!”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2010s, 2016, July, 2016 Republican National Convention (21 July 2016)

Love, God, People, Dreams

“Endurance is composed of four attributes: eagerness, fear, piety and anticipation (of death). so whoever is eager for Paradise will ignore temptations; whoever fears the fire of Hell will abstain from sins; whoever practices piety will easily bear the difficulties of life and whoever anticipates death will hasten towards good deeds.
Conviction has also four aspects to guard oneself against infatuations of sin; to search for explanation of truth through knowledge; to gain lessons from instructive things and to follow the precedent of the past people, because whoever wants to guard himself against vices and sins will have to search for the true causes of infatuation and the true ways of combating them out and to find those true ways one has to search them with the help of knowledge, whoever gets fully acquainted with various branches of knowledge will take lessons from life and whoever tries to take lessons from life is actually engaged in the study of the causes of rise and fall of previous civilizations.
Justice also has four aspects depth of understanding, profoundness of knowledge, fairness of judgment and dearness of mind; because whoever tries his best to understand a problem will have to study it, whoever has the practice of studying the subject he is to deal with, will develop a clear mind and will always come to correct decisions, whoever tries to achieve all this will have to develop ample patience and forbearance and whoever does this has done justice to the cause of religion and has led a life of good repute and fame.
Jihad is divided into four branches: to persuade people to be obedient to Allah; to prohibit them from sin and vice; to struggle (in the cause of Allah) sincerely and firmly on all occasions and to detest the vicious. Whoever persuades people to obey the orders of Allah provides strength to the believers; whoever dissuades them from vices and sins humiliates the unbelievers; whoever struggles on all occasions discharges all his obligations and whoever detests the vicious only for the sake of Allah, then Allah will take revenge on his enemies and will be pleased with Him on the Day of Judgment.”

Ali book Nahj al-Balagha

Nahj al-Balagha

Life, Death, People, Truth

“Goodness Gracious The Paper! Where the Cash at? Where the Stash at?”

The Notorious B.I.G. (1972–1997) American rapper

"Gimme The Loot"
Song lyrics

“One basic principle must be the absolute rule for the S. S. men. We must be honest, decent, loyal, and comradely to members of our own blood and nobody else. What happens to a Russian and a Czech does not interest me in the least. What the nations can offer in the way of good blood of our type we will take, if necessary by kidnapping their children and raising them here with us. Whether nations live in prosperity or starve to death interests me only in so far as we need them as slaves for our culture: otherwise it is of no interest to me. Whether ten thousand Russian females fall down from exhaustion while digging an anti-tank ditch interests me only in so far as the anti-tank ditch for Germany is finished. We shall never be tough and heartless where it is not necessary, that is clear. We, Germans, who are the only people in the world who have a decent attitude towards animals, will also assume a decent attitude towards these human animals. But it is a crime against our blood to worry about them and give them ideals, thus causing our sons and grandsons to have a more difficult time with them. When somebody comes up to me and says: 'I cannot dig the anti-tank ditch with women and children, it is inhuman, for it would kill them,' then I have to say: 'You are the murderer of your own blood, because if the anti-tank ditch is not dug German soldiers will die, and they are the sons of German mothers. They are our own blood….”

Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945) Nazi officer, Commander of the SS

Our concern, our duty, is our people and our blood. We can be indifferent to everything else. I wish the S.S. to adopt this attitude towards the problem of all foreign, non-Germanic peoples, especially Russians....
The Posen speech to SS officers (6 October 1943)
1940s

Death, Women, Men, Children

“Because I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart he put other and different desires. Each man is good in the sight of the Great Spirit. It is not necessary, that eagles should be crows.”

Sitting Bull (1831–1890) Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man

Quoted in Vine Deloria, God Is Red: A Native View of Religion. Golden, Colo: Fulcrum Pub, 2003, cited to Virginia Armstrong, I have spoken; American history through the voices of the Indians. Chicago, Sage Books, 1971.

Heart

“A faithful and good servant is a real godsend; but truly 'tis a rare bird in the land.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

156
Table Talk (1569)

Faith, Bird

“No virtue is equal to the good of others and
no vice greater than hurting others.”

Tulsidas (1532–1623) Hindu poet-saint

Tulsidas in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p. 37

Hurt

“Whoevers tongue utters the truth, his practise becomes purified; and the one whose intention is decent and good, his sustenance increases; and whoever adopts good attitude and decent behavior with his family, his life span lengthens.”

Muhammad al-Baqir (677–733) fifth of the Twelve Shia Imams

Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 295

Life, Truth, Family, Behavior

“Whoever sows good shall harvest happiness, and whoever sows evil shall harvest regret.”

Hasan al-Askari (846–874) Eleventh of the Twelve Imams

Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 338
Religious Wisdom

Evil, Happiness

“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”

Socrates (-470–-399 BC) classical Greek Athenian philosopher

Socrates II: xxxi http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=D.+L.+2.5.31&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0257#note-link14. Original Greek: ἓν μόνον ἀγαθὸν εἶναι, τὴν ἐπιστήμην, καὶ ἓν μόνον κακόν, τὴν ἀμαθίαν Diogenes Laertius Variant: The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.

Knowledge, Evil

“I heard the executioner was very good. And I have a little old creaky neck.”

Anne Boleyn (1501–1536) Second wife of Henry VIII of England, mother of Queen Elizabeth I of England

On her executioner, Blastmilk, "Anne Boleyn: The Midnight Crow, 1501-1536" http://www.blastmilk.com/decollete/tudor-england/anne-boleyn-the-midnight-crow.php, [published on] September 18, 2006

“The Satanist shuns terms such as "hope" and "prayer" as they are indicative of apprehension. If we hope and pray for something to come about, we will not act in a positive way which will make it happen. The Satanist, realizing that anything he gets is of his own doing, takes command of the situation instead of praying to God for it to happen. Positive thinking and positive action add up to results. […] Just as the Satanist does not pray to God for assistance, he does not pray for forgiveness for his wrong doings. The Satanist knows that praying does no good, confessing to another human being, like himself, accomplishes even less - and is, furthermore, degrading.”

Anton LaVey book The Satanic Bible

The Satanic Bible (1969)

God, Hope, Way, Forgiveness

“The common good before the individual good. (Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz)”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

“The Nazi 25-point Programme,” Hitler’s speech on party's program (February 24, 1920) in Munich, Germany. Nazi Ideology Before 1933: A Documentation, Barbara Miller Lane, ‎Leila J. Rupp, introduction and translation, Manchester University Press (1978) p. 43.
1920s

“I will be good.”

Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819–1901) British monarch who reigned 1837–1901

Allegedly, 11-year-old Victoria's spoken response in 1830 when her governess let her know that one day she would be Queen. As discussed in Becoming Victoria by Lynne Vallone (2001) on p. 44 http://books.google.com/books?id=qFOPtHFpmAYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA44#v=onepage&q&f=false-45, "the anecdote survives in a number of competing versions", some aspects of which the author calls "dubious". And as mentioned on p. 45, Victoria's own recollection of learning she would someday become Queen was "I cried much on learning it—& even deplored this contingency". Disputed

“In many parts of the plains thorny jungles grow, behind the good defence of which the people… become stubbornly rebellious… and pay no taxes.”

Babur (1483–1530) 1st Mughal Emperor

People, Parting

“Here's how you can tell someone is your friend: A) You can tell them bad news, and they'll listen. B) You can tell them good news, and they'll help you celebrate.”

Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology

Excerpt from 2017 Personality Lecture 21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9U5IHQWSZc Personality Lectures

Help

“On Monday the 9th of the first Jumada, we got out of the suburbs of Agra, on our journey (safar) for the Holy War, and dismounted in the open country, where we remained three or four days to collect our army and be its rallying-point…On this occasion I received a secret inspiration and heard an infallible voice say: 'Is not the time yet come unto those who believe, that their hearts should humbly submit to the admonition of Allah, and that truth which hath been revealed? Thereupon we set ourselves to extirpate the things of wickedness…
Above all, adequate thanks cannot be rendered for a benefit than which none is greater in the world and nothing is more blessed, in the world to come, to wit, victory over most powerful infidels and dominion over wealthiest heretics, these are the unbelievers, the wicked.'In the eyes of the judicious, no blessing can be greater than this…. Previous to the rising in Hindustan of the Sun of dominion and the emergence there of the light of the Shahansha's (i. e. Babur's) Khalifate the authority of that execrated pagan (Sanga) - at the Judgment Day he shall have no friend - was such that not one of all the exalted sovereigns of this wide realm, such as the Sultan of Delhi, the Sultan of Gujarat and the Sultan of Mandu, could cope with this evil-dispositioned one, without the help of other pagans…
Ten powerful chiefs, each the leader of a pagan host, uprose in rebellion, as smoke rises, and linked themselves, as though enchained, to that perverse one (Sanga); and this infidel decade who, unlike the blessed ten, uplifted misery-freighted standards which denounce unto them excruciating punishment, had many dependents, and troops, and wide-extended lands…. The protagonists of the royal forces fell, like divine destiny, on that one-eyed Dajjal who to understanding men, shewed the truth of the saying, When Fate arrives, the eye becomes blind, and setting before their eyes the scripture which saith, whosoever striveth to promote the true religion, striveth for the good of his own soul, they acted on the precept to which obedience is due, Fight against infidels and hypocrites…
The pagan right wing made repeated and desperate attack on the left wing of the army of Islam, falling furiously on the holy warriors, possessors of salvation, but each time was made to turn back or, smitten with the arrows of victory, was made to descend into Hell, the house of perdition: they shall be thrown to bum therein, and an unhappy dwelling shall it be. Then the trusty amongst the nobles, Mumin Ataka and Rustam Turkman betook themselves to the rear of the host of darkened pagans…
At the moment when the holy warriors were heedlessly flinging away their lives, they heard a secret voice say, Be not dismayed, neither be grieved, for, if ye believe, ye shall be exalted above the unbelievers, and from the infallible Informer heard the joyful words, Assistance is from Allah, and a speedy victory! And do thou bear glad tiding to true believers. Then they fought with such delight that the plaudits of the saints of the Holy Assembly reached them and the angels from near the Throne, fluttered round their heads like moths.”

Babur (1483–1530) 1st Mughal Emperor

Babur writing about the battle against the Rajput Confederacy led by Maharana Sangram Singh of Mewar. In Babur-Nama, translated into English by A.S. Beveridge, New Delhi reprint, 1979, pp. 547-572.

Men, Fate, War, Truth

“Be cheerful, do good, and let the sparrows chirp.”

John Bosco (1815–1888) Italian Roman Catholic priest, educator and writer

Source: http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/youth-hostels/benediktbeuern%20don%20bosco205/leisure%20activities

“I just don't think religion should be a money making organization. There is never a need to send churches or cults money for any reason. If you want to feel good about yourself or make your God happy, give your money directly to a charity or a homeless person. But once again this is my opinion, and I don't want to be in a position of also dictating.”

John Roecker (1966) American film director

An Epic Interview with John Roecker, FilmJerk, www.filmjerk.com, Kristopher, Terrell, August 23, 2003 http://www.filmjerk.com/interviews/article.php?id_int=12,

Money, God, Religion, Feeling

“When the common good of a society is regarded as something apart from and superior to the individual good of its members, it means that the good of some men takes precedence over the good of others, with those others consigned to the status of sacrificial animals.”

Ayn Rand book Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966)

Men, Animals

“When Adam and Eve realize they're naked is that same moment they realize the difference between good and evil. What's the relationship between consciousness, knowledge of nakedness, and knowledge of good and evil? When you know that you're vulnerable, and they also developed a knowledge of death so there's deep knowledge of vulnerability, and they get embarrassed about that and they cover themselves up. So that's culture. So it's a very profound shock when they come to recognize that they're naked. It even causes Adam to run and hide from God. Then they develop the knowledge of good and evil. This is about how human beings have this peculiar capacity that no other creatures have. I know how I can be hurt, because I am aware of my own limitations – painfully aware. And now, because I know how I can be hurt, I know how you can be hurt. And I can take advantage of that. And that's how evil enters the world. It gives people another attribute of divinity, knowing the difference between good and evil. The cosmos switches when that self-consciousness manifests itself, and that's when the possibility of evil enters the world.”

Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology

Other

Death, God, People, World

“A good, skillful worker is one who does not consider the reward, but enjoys his work. If, for example, a skillful tailor knows that the clothing fits its owner at every point, it gives him pleasure, more than the money he receives.”

Baruch Ashlag (1907–1991) Polish rabbi

Selected Articles

Money, Pleasure, Clothes

“To make it in life, you and your wife need to be in the same business. That has been my problem all along. My wives didn't know what I was doing. I would come back home from the road to a stranger. That's no good.”

James Brown (1933–2006) American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist

Brown, J. & Tucker, B. (2003). James Brown: The Godfather of Soul, p. 266. Thunder's Mouth Press: New York. ISBN 1-56025-388-6

Life, Home, Business, Problem

“In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.”

Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty

Variant translations
It is best to keep one’s own state intact; to crush the enemy’s state is only second best.
Source: The Art of War, Chapter III · Strategic Attack

War, Art, Country

“It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream.”

Tsunetomo Yamamoto book Hagakure

Hagakure (c. 1716)
Context: It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this.

World, Dreams

“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.”

Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty

Source: The Art of War, Chapter X · Terrain

Fear, Country

“Good and bad are mixed. If you don't have both,
you don't belong with us.”

Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet

Source: The Essential Rumi (1995), Ch. 19 : Jesus Poems
Context: The cure for pain is in the pain.
Good and bad are mixed. If you don't have both,
you don't belong with us.

“The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance.”

Herodotus (-484–-425 BC) ancient Greek historian, often considered as the first historian

The words of Socrates, as quoted by Diogenes Laertius.
Misattributed

Knowledge, Evil

“Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical. No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life. Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution. This is the way to keep a country at peace and an army intact.”

Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty

Translation by Lionel Giles
Source: The Art of War, Chapter XII · Attacking with Fire

Life, Peace, Way, Change

“Money doesn’t mean anything to me. I’ve made a lot of money, but I want to enjoy lie and not stress myself building my bank account. I give lots away and live simply, mostly out of a suitcase in hotels. We all know that good health is much more important.”

Keanu Reeves (1964) Canadian actor, director, producer and musician

Money, Lie, Health

“Art is about trying to find the good in people and making the world a more compassionate place.”

Keanu Reeves (1964) Canadian actor, director, producer and musician

World, Making love, People, Art

“Be reverent before the dawning day. Do not think of what will be in a year, or in ten years. Think of to-day. Leave your theories. All theories, you see, even those of virtue, are bad, foolish, mischievous. Do not abuse life. Live in to-day. Be reverent towards each day. Love it, respect it, do not sully it, do not hinder it from coming to flower. Love it even when it is gray and sad like to-day. Do not be anxious. See. It is winter now. Everything is asleep. The good earth will awake again. You have only to be good and patient like the earth. Be reverent. Wait. If you are good, all will go well. If you are not, if you are weak, if you do not succeed, well, you must be happy in that. No doubt it is the best you can do. So, then, why will? Why be angry because of what you cannot do? We all have to do what we can.... Als ich kann.”

Romain Rolland (1866–1944) French author

Gottfried to Jean-Christophe. Part 3: Ada
Jean-Christophe (1904 - 1912), Youth (1904)

Waiting, Making love, Bad luck, Flowers

“The greatest gift the Parsis have bestowed on India is in your own good self.”

Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917) Indian politician

The Congress reception committee chairman at Lahore observed when he was honoured he was in Golden Temple in Armritsar quoted in Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji: "The Grand Old Man of India"
About Dadabhai

Self-confidence

“The existence of money is hardly ever questioned or examined, but let’s consider our use of money.... There are many disadvantages to using this old method of exchange for goods and services. We will consider just a few here and let you add to this list on your own.”

Jacque Fresco (1916–2017) American futurist and self-described social engineer

Designing the Future (2007)

Money, Question

“Every morning my day begins with an SMS from the General Staff. Over the past 24 hours there were 7 occasions of shelling and two casualties. Figures may vary, but only one figure makes the morning good. It is zero. The shelling is zero. The loss is zero.”

Volodymyr Zelensky (1978) 6th President of Ukraine

Original: (uk) Кожен мій ранок починається з sms-повідомлення. Це sms від Генерального штабу. За минулу добу обстрілів – сім, втрат – дві. Цифри можуть бути різними, але тільки одна робить ранок добрим. Це – нуль. Обстрілів – нуль. Втрат – нуль. Transliteration: Kozhen miy ranok pochynayetʹsya z sms-povidomlennya. Tse sms vid Heneralʹnoho shtabu. Za mynulu dobu obstriliv – sim, vtrat – dvi. Tsyfry mozhutʹ buty riznymy, ale tilʹky odna robytʹ ranok dobrym. Tse – nulʹ. Obstriliv – nulʹ. Vtrat – nulʹ. Speech by Zelensky during the celebration of Independence Day of Ukraine https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/2766331-promova-zelenskogo-z-nagodi-28i-ricnici-nezaleznosti-ukraini.html (24 August 2019)

Past, Loss, Making love

“Indeed, when a ruler once becomes unpopular, all his acts, be they good or bad, tell against him.”

Tacitus book Histories

Book I, 7
Histories (100-110)

Bad luck

“When you’re playing someone, I feel the character taking over me, but I am also influencing the character. Becoming embodied in the character on set is, what I think, makes a really powerful actor. If the character is good enough in a script, it really affects you. This is why I try and become the character for one or two weeks.”

Solomon B Taiwo (1990) English actor and author

Impact interview (2020)

Thinking, Making love, Feeling

“When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

“Let the world admire the supposed wisdom and valor of our great men. Perhaps they may adopt the qualities that have been ascribed to them, and thus good may be done. I shall not undeceive future generations.”

Charles Thomson (1729–1824) American patriot leader (1729-1824)

Remarks on his abandonment of a personal account of the early history of the United States and the American Revolution, as quoted by Benjamin Rush in his memoirs.

Future, World, Wisdom, Men

“Impressive & soulful music is a good way to enrich oneself love for life.”

Zafar Mirzo (1972)

Soul, Music, Way, Love

“Employment is a good source of start up capital and basic survival but never a direct path to long term reasonable prosperity.”

Hamis Kiggundu (1984) Ugandan business magnate, Internet entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author

2018

“I'll probably cool down a little bit and just focus on what I need to do especially because we're coming to the end. I want to just do the best I can and end it off good.”

Sunisa Lee (2003) American artistic gymnast; first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist

Source: "Sunisa Lee Says She's 'Going to Delete Twitter' So She Can Focus on Preparing for Beam Final" in People (1 August 2021) https://people.com/sports/tokyo-olympics-sunisa-lee-going-to-delete-twitter-focus-preparing-beam-final/

“I was just telling myself to do nothing more and nothing less, and just telling myself to breathe because in that moment I literally felt like I was going to puke, I was so nervous. My normal is good enough, so I don't do anything more or anything less, I just have to do what I normally do.”

Sunisa Lee (2003) American artistic gymnast; first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist

"Suni Lee talks gold medal win, 'cherished' backyard balance beam she trained on as a kid" in Today (30 July 2021) https://www.today.com/news/suni-lee-talks-gold-medal-win-i-still-can-t-t226952

“You cannot wish for a good life that is full of joy and peace without sacrificing something in return.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Peace, Joy, Life

“The good news is that no one can sincerely admit to be stupid in life.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Sincerity, Stupidity, Life

“The salary simply means becoming dependent on someone's pocket. Like a good dog who waits for his master to throw the bone at him, after having eaten all the meat.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Dependency, Waiting, Dogs

“I have the best fans in the world and I aim to utilise my platform for good — to share things I uncover about the world, climate, technology.”

Robert Downey Jr. (1965) American actor

Source: "Playing Iron Man was hard and I dug deep: Robert Downey Jr" https://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/playing-iron-man-was-hard-and-i-dug-deep-robert-downey-jr/story-OOv6pvyDb8ojxc1r78g89K.html (13 December 2020)

World

“Je ne regrette rien…

If it was good…it was divine.

If it was bad…it was an experience.”

Stephie Pahlavi Zan

“Rejection doesn't mean that you aren't good enough…
it just means the other person failed to realize what you have to offer.”

Stephie Pahlavi Zan

Personality

“I'm never gonna be good enough for you”

Simple plan (band)

“I think it is good that books still exist, but they do make me sleepy.”

Frank Zappa (1940–1993) American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and film producer

Books, Thinking

“If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you're in big trouble.”

Robert M. Sapolsky (1957) American endocrinologist

Stress, Neurodegeneration and Individual Differences (2001)

Life

“Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.”

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) British Liberal politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom

Speech in West Calder, Scotland (27 November 1879), quoted in W. E. Gladstone, Midlothian Speeches 1879 (Leicester University Press, 1971), p. 115.
1870s
Context: Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home. My second principle of foreign policy is this—that its aim ought to be to preserve to the nations of the world—and especially, were it but for shame, when we recollect the sacred name we bear as Christians, especially to the Christian nations of the world—the blessings of peace. That is my second principle.

Home

“There is no evildoer who could not be made good for something.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau book The Social Contract

Source: The Social Contract

“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary

Variant: Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

For women, Hope, People, Heart

“There's only room for one hero in this story-and everyone knows the devil doesn't get to be the good guy.”

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

Source: Horns

Guy

“Though the road's been rocky it sure feels good to me.”

Bob Marley (1945–1981) Jamaican singer, songwriter, musician

Feeling

“Our maturity will be judged by how well we are able to agree to disagree and yet continue to love one another, to care for one another, and cherish one another and seek the greater good of the other.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Love

“You cannot teach creativity—how to become a good writer. But you can help a young writer discover within himself what kind of writer he would like to be.” Mario Vargas Llosa”

Mario Vargas Llosa (1936) Peruvian writer, politician, journalist, and essayist

Help

“If there is a good will, there is great way.”

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet

Attitude, Funny, Heartbreaking, Leadership

“I wish I could make him understand that a loving good heart is riches enough, and that without it intellect is poverty.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Source: The Diary of Adam and Eve

Love, Understanding, Heart

“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”

Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy

Source: Selected Writings From The Nicomachean Ethics And Politics

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.”

Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary

Source: The Diary of a Young Girl

Death, People, Hope, Heart

“He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.”

Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy

For Team

“Good night, good night! parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.”

William Shakespeare book Romeo and Juliet

Variant: Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow.
Source: Romeo and Juliet

Good Night, Goodbye, Parting, Night

“There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.”

Martin Luther book Table Talk

292
Table Talk (1569)

Relationship, Anniversary, Wedding, Love

“The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick.”

P.T. Barnum (1810–1891) American showman and businessman

Source: The Art of Money Getting: Golden Rules for Making Money

Life, Health, Success, Personality

“Good music is good no matter what kind of music it is.”

Miles Davis (1926–1991) American jazz musician

Music

“It is easy to love people when they smell good, but sometimes they slip into the manure of life and smell awful. You must love them just as much when they smell foul.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

Love, Life, People

“Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

“To terrify children with the image of hell, to consider women an inferior creation—is that good for the world?”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

Women, Children, World, Hell

“Anyhow, I've learned one thing now. You only really get to know people when you've had a jolly good row with them. Then and then only can you judge their true characters!”

Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary

Variant translation: The only way to truly know a person is to argue with them. For when they argue in full swing, then they reveal their true character.
28 September 1942
Variant: I've learned one thing: you only really get to know a person after a fight. Only then can you judge their true character!
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)

People, Learning

Quotes about goodness page 3

Quotes about goodness
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