Quotes about goodness
page 30

“If after I read a poem the world looks like that poem for 24 hours or so I'm sure it's a good one—and the same goes for paintings.”

Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979) American poet

World, Reading, Painting

“We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.”

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator

Source: By Art Koroma, from page 256 of Holy Axiom Truth Exposed... the Bible Is a Myth (2014) note: It appears President Barack Obama started this misattribution. I can find no reference to this quote on the Internet prior to his May 15, 2016 commencement address at Rutgers State University. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/15/remarks-president-commencement-address-rutgers-state-university-new

Feeling, Courage, Question

“Intentions don't matter. It's the end result we're all judged by. Evil in the name of good is still evil. And when you dance with the devil, you seldom get to pick the tune.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Infinity

Evil, Dance

“The only good thing about having your back to the wall is that it makes it really easy to choose which way you're going to go.”

Jim Butcher book Cold Days

Source: Cold Days

Way

“We live in a culture where everything tastes good but nothing satisfies.”

Daniel Pinchbeck (1966) American author and journalist

“She wants me to take out Patton.”

Barron’s brows draw together. “Take out? As in transform him?”

“No,” I say. “As in take out to dinner. She thinks we’d make a good couple.”

Holly Black book Black Heart

Source: Black Heart

Thinking, Drawing

“Good people are good people; religion has nothing to do with it.”

Jodi Picoult book The Storyteller

Source: The Storyteller

People, Religion

“The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.”

Charles Lamb (1775–1834) English essayist

Quoted in "Table Talk" http://books.google.com/books?id=LIxUAAAAcAAJ&q=%22greatest+pleasure+I+know+is+to+do+a+good+action+by+stealth+and+to+have+it+found+out+by+accident%22&pg=PA14#v=onepage in The Athenaeum magazine (4 January 1834).

Pleasure

“Okay, listen to me, you're stronger than they are. You are. They just want a good show, that's all they want. You know how to hunt. Show them how good you are.”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

“Kalos Kai Agathos, the singular balance of the good and the beautiful.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

Beauty

“My brief flash of relief and confidence melted away. Good thing it did, too. I'm sure the world would come to an end if I were allowed to feel a sense of relief and well-being for any length of time.”

Jim Butcher Dead Beat

Source: Dead Beat

World, Feeling, Confidence, Sense

“But when they were done, I wondered if there would be a next time. I felt good. I wasn’t dead, yet something was dead. Perhaps I’d managed my peculiar objective of partial suicide. I was lighter, airier than I’d been in years.”

Susanna Kaysen book Girl, Interrupted

Source: Girl, Interrupted

Suicide, Time, Dead

“good call. A second drag and your next stop's the wastepaper basket - and not to toss your kleenex, true.”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Reborn

“This is how it has always been with me. Give me something good, I’ll destroy it. Love me, I’ll destroy you. I have never felt deserving of anything in my life.”

James Frey book A Million Little Pieces

Source: A Million Little Pieces

Love, Life

“[Will]'d barely been asleep a few minutes when Halt's voice woke him.
'Will? Are you asleep?'…
'I was,' he said, a little indignantly. 'I'm not now.'
'Good,' Halt replied, a trifle smugly. 'Serves you right.”

John Flanagan (1873–1938) Irish-American hammer thrower

Source: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

“Materialism, attachment to things of the world, includes pride. Many religious people suffer from pride: taking pleasure or even delight in being good, or religious.”

Idries Shah (1924–1996) writer and Sufi teacher

Source: Sufi Thought and Action

People, Pleasure, World, Suffering

“The calories in chocolate don't count because chocolate comes from the cocoa bean, and everyone knows that beans are good for you.”

Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer

Source: At Last

“There's something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.”

Christopher McDougall (1962) American journalist and writer

Source: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Pleasure, Fear, Way, Problem

“Reading is a conversation. All books talk. But a good book listens as well.”

Mark Haddon (1962) English writer and illustrator

Books, Reading

“I am seventeen. The good things about seventeen is that you’re not sixteen. Sixteen goes with the word sweet, and I am so far from sweet.”

Francine Pascal Fearless

Source: Fearless

“If you are good life is good.”

Roald Dahl book Matilda

Source: Matilda

Life

“There's another problem," Percy said. "I'm not good with air travel. It's dangerous for a son of Neptune."
"You'll have to risk it… and so will I," Frank said. "By the way, we're related."
Percy almost stumbled off the roof. "What?”

Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune

Source: The Son of Neptune

Way, Travel, Problem

“When I read a good book, I wish my life were three thousand years long.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Life, Books, Reading

“Deep down, Clark's essentially a good person… and deep down, I'm not”

Jeph Loeb (1958) writer

Source: Batman: Hush, Vol. 1

Personality

“What's going on?" he asked, looking from face to face. "I was having a good dream."
"I need you," said Lisa.
"I hear that from women a lot.”

Richelle Mead book Last Sacrifice

Source: Last Sacrifice

Women, Dreams

“Because my spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.”

A.A. Milne book Winnie-the-Pooh

Source: Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), Chapter Six - Pooh.

“Brigid O'Shaughnessy: “I haven't lived a good life. I've been bad, worse than you could know.”
Sam Spade “You know, that's good, because if you actually were as innocent as you pretend to be, we'd never get anywhere”

Dashiell Hammett book The Maltese Falcon

Source: The Maltese Falcon

Life

“It's such a happiness when good people get together.”

Jane Austen book Emma

Variant: It is such a happiness when good people get together -- and they always do.
Source: Emma

Wedding, People, Happiness

“I will have you know I practiced that speech. In front of a mirror before you got here."
"So what do you think it meant?"
"I'm not sure," Jace admitted, "but I know I look damn good delivering it.”

Cassandra Clare The City of Lost Souls

Source: City of Lost Souls

Thinking

“true humility is when you can surprise yourself more than others; the rest is either shyness or good marketing”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb book The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

“You're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good.”

Johnny Cash (1932–2003) American singer-songwriter

“Someday, I'd like to live a life based on doing good stuff instead of just not doing bad stuff.”

Chuck Palahniuk book Choke

Source: Choke

Life

“It's a good idea always to do something relaxing prior to making an important decision in your life.”

Paulo Coelho book The Pilgrimage

Source: The Pilgrimage

Life, Idea, Decision

“Aren't you afraid of dying?
Not really. I've watched lots of good-for-nothing, worthless people die, and if people like that can do it, then I should be able to handle it.”

Haruki Murakami book Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Source: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

People

“On the way out Jeremiah turned around and danced a quick jig for me and i couldn't help it, I laughed. Over his shoulder Conrad said, "Good night Belly."

And that was it. I was in love”

Jenny Han (1980) American writer

Source: The Summer I Turned Pretty

Love, Way, Help, Dance

“Love is the answer. But while you're waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty good questions.”

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

Also found http://books.google.com/books?id=kd41AQAAIAAJ&q=%22love+is+the+answer%22#search_anchor in "Quotations According to Woody Allen" http://books.google.com/books?id=kd41AQAAIAAJ&q=%22quotations+according%22#search_anchor from the New York Times, 1 December 1975.

Love, Sex, Question, Waiting

“Sometimes good and evil aren't so much opposites as two sides of a coin. You toss it one way and it looks good, another way and it's evil, sometimes it just depends on which end of the gun you're on.”

Laurell K. Hamilton (1963) Novelist

Way, Evil, Dependency

“He could say nothing. He had no right to be there, he had already been profoundly changed, he was no good at small talk, she was half naked, it was dawn and he loved her.”

Mark Helprin book Winter's Tale

Source: Winter's Tale

Love, Change

“A noble type of good.
Heroic womanhood.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) American poet

“I’m probably just as good a mother as the next repressed, obsessive-compulsive paranoiac.”

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

Source: Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year

“So much good, so much evil. Just add water.”

Markus Zusak book The Book Thief

Source: The Book Thief

Water, Evil

“I am good at walking away. Rejection teaches you how to reject.”

Jeanette Winterson (1959) English writer

Source: Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles

“Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense,
But good men starve for want of impudence.”

John Dryden (1631–1700) English poet and playwright of the XVIIth century

Constantine the Great (1684), Epilogue.
Source: The Poetical Works of John Dryden

Men, Sense

“Goodness, real goodness, has it's own sort of cruelty to it.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Gratitude

“He doesn’t have to love your CD collection. He doesn’t have to love your shoes. But any good, mature guy better make an attempt to love your friends and family—especially when they’re great.”

Greg Behrendt (1963) American comedian

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

Love, Family, Shoe, Guy

“Do-gooding is like treating hemophilia - the real cure is to let hemophiliacs bleed to death… before they breed more hemophiliacs.”

Robert A. Heinlein book Stranger in a Strange Land

Source: Stranger in a Strange Land

Death

“Thank goodness for all the things you are not!
Thank goodness you're not something someone forgot,
and left all alone in some punkerish place
like a rusty tin coat hanger hanging in space.”

Dr. Seuss book Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? (1973)

“In the games of queens and kings, we leave our dreams at the door and we make do with what we have. Sometimes if we’re fortunate, we still manage to have a good life.”

Melina Marchetta (1965) Australian teen writer

Source: Quintana of Charyn

Life, Dreams, Game

“Southerners love a good tale. They are born reciters, great memory retainers, diary keepers, letter exchangers… great talkers.”

Eudora Welty (1909–2001) American author

Love, Memory

“Rest easy, real mothers. The very fact that you worry about being a good mom means that you already are one.”

Jodi Picoult book House Rules

Source: House Rules

Moms

“A person who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Variant: A man who has no conscience, no goodness, does not suffer.
Source: The Kite Runner

Suffering, Personality

“I think that everything he did, feeding the poor, giving money to friends in need, it was all a way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner (2003)

Money, Way, Thinking

“[…] even in the cruelest human being there can exist a flower of good. Maybe just the tiniest blossom, in need of water and sunlight, but a flower just the same.”

Meg Cabot book Shadowland

Source: Shadowland

Flowers, Water

“… most of the time we were alone and mixing up our souls ever more and ever more till it would be terribly hard to say good-by.”

Jack Kerouac book On the Road

Source: On the Road

Soul, Time

“Shadowhunters don't say good-bye, not before a battle. Or good luck. You must behave as if return is certain, not a matter of chance”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

Chance

“This is good, life must continue, we are fighting barbarians, but we must remain human.”

David Benioff book City of Thieves

Source: City of Thieves

Life, Fight

“You sure you don’t want to kiss me good-bye, baby?”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Strikes

Kiss, Baby

“Until we see each other again, keep your head together, read some good books, be useful, be happy.”

Stephen King book Different Seasons

Source: Different Seasons

Books, Reading, Happiness

“The words. Why did they have to exist? Without them, there wouldn’t be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better. What good were the words?”

Markus Zusak book The Book Thief

Source: The Book Thief

Feeling

“I guess the real reason that my wife and I had children is the same reason that Napoleon had for invading Russia: it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Bill Cosby (1937) American actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist

Children, Idea, Time

“Doing nothing is as good as collaborating.”

Anthony Doerr book All the Light We Cannot See

Source: All the Light We Cannot See

“Go on, son, you're not doing me any good by bleeding.”

Shannon Hale The Goose Girl

Source: The Goose Girl

“Find a judo solution, one that delivers maximum efficiency with minimum effort. When good enough gets the job done, go for it.”

Jason Fried software entrepreneur

Source: Rework

Effort

“Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective.”

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) English mystery and detective writer

“She reads a lot of books. Good things, books.”

Thorne Smith (1892–1934) an American writer of humorous supernatural fantasy fiction

Books, Reading

“Fairness doesn't govern life and death. If it did, no good man would ever die young.”

Mitch Albom book The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Source: The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003)

Life, Death

“This is a good place," he said.
"There's a lot of liquor," I agreed.”

Ernest Hemingway book The Sun Also Rises

Source: The Sun Also Rises

“Jem is nothing but goodness. That he struck you last night only shows how capable you are of driving even saints to madness.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Madness, Night

“I was good at digging holes. It was the rest of life I sucked at.”

Laurie Halse Anderson (1961) American children's writer

Source: Twisted

Life

“Nice people with common sense do not make interesting characters. They only make good former spouses.”

Isabel Allende (1942) Chilean writer

People, Sense

“It is a good idea sometimes to think of the importance and dignity of our every-day duties. It keeps them from being so tiresome; besides, others are apt take us at our own valuation.”

Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957) American children's writer, diarist, and journalist

Idea, Thinking

“Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Variant: Blustery cold days should be spend propped up in bed with a mug of hot chocolate and a pile of comic books.
Source: The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book

Books, Home, Tea

“Go now. Alone. Or I make good on my promise.
-A”

Sara Shepard (1973) Author

Source: Wicked

“Death is an inevitability, isn't it? You become more aware of that when you get to my age. I don't worry about it. I'm ready for it. When I go, I want to go doing what I do best. If I died tomorrow, I couldn't complain. It's been good.”

Lemmy Kilmister (1945–2015) British singer-songwriter

Death, Age

“There is absolutely no substitute for the best. Good food cannot be made of inferior ingredients masked with high flavor. It is true thrift to use the best ingredients available and to waste nothing.”

James Beard (1903–1985) American chef

Food

“The difference between good and evil men is not found in the acts they are willing to commit—but merely in what name they are willing to commit them in.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Bands of Mourning

Men, Evil

“Sometimes doing your best is not good enough. Sometimes you must do what is required.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Heard in the D. A. Pennebaker documentary Dont Look Back (1967)

Light

“I can learn to live with guilt. I don't care about being good.”

Holly Black book Red Glove

Source: Red Glove

Learning

“Rituals are a good signal to your unconscious that it is time to kick in.”

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

Time

“Above all, never think you're not good enough. Never think that. In life people will take you at your own reckoning.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

Life, People, Thinking

“Good manners reflect something from inside-an innate sense of consideration for others and respect for self.”

Emily Post (1872–1960) American etiquette expert

Sense

“This is war,' I yelled through the door.
Lucky for me,' Morelli said. 'I give good war.”

Janet Evanovich Two for the Dough

Source: Two for the Dough

War

“It had been so good to see his enemy again. Positively heartwarming.

Hallmark really needed to start up a line of revenge cards, the kind that let you reach out to those you were going to come after with a vengeance.

- Lash”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Enshrined

Revenge

“I want to know about my mom. And other stuff. I want to know the whole story, good or bad.”
“Me, too,” said Gazzy. “I want to find my parents so I can tell’m what total scuzzes they are. Like, ‘Hi, mom and dad, you’re such scum!”

James Patterson (1947) American author

Source: The Angel Experiment

Moms, Parent

“I think that others can drive a creature to naughtiness, always accusing and blaming them. After a while it must make the creature unhappy and drive him… to be naughty, because nobody expects them to be good…”

Brian Jacques book Outcast of Redwall

Source: Outcast of Redwall

Thinking

“I like to inquire into everything. Hercule Poirot is a good dog.”

Agatha Christie book Peril at End House

Hercule Poirot
Peril at End House (1932)
Context: I like to inquire into everything. Hercule Poirot is a good dog. The good dog follows the scent, and if, regrettably, there is no scent to follow, he noses around — seeking always something that is not very nice.

Dogs