Quotes about goodness
page 34

“The summer movies are coming out. My advice: just stay home and burn a good book.”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

“The only thing faster than the speed of thought is the speed of forgetfulness. Good thing we have other people to help us remember.”

Vera Nazarian (1966) American writer

Source: The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

People, Help, Speed, Forgetting

“No matter how good somebody's life looks from the outside, you can be sure there's something about it you wouldn't want to have in your life.”

Jean Ferris (1939–2015) American children's writer

Source: Twice Upon a Marigold

Life

“To wear your heart on your sleeve isn't a very good plan; you should wear it inside, where it functions best.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Heart

“Now I lay me down to sleep my bomb proof cellar's good and deep but if I'm killed before I wake remember god it's for your sake amen.”

Dalton Trumbo book Johnny Got His Gun

Source: Johnny Got His Gun

God, Sleep

“Man, it was a good thing vampires didn't get cancer. Lately he'd been chain-smoking like a felon.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Unbound

Source: Lover Unbound

“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. […] it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”

Ernest Hemingway book Green Hills of Africa

Part I, Ch. 1
Green Hills of Africa (1935)

Books, Literature

“If ye loved him, he must ha' been a good man.'
'Yes, he… was.'
'Then I shall do my best to honor his spirit by serving his wife.”

Diana Gabaldon book Outlander

Source: Outlander

Love

“A girl who bonnets a policeman with an ashcan full of bottles is obviously good wife-and-mother timber.”

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) English author

Source: The Plot That Thickened

Girl

“Quim," she said, "don't ever try to teach me about good and evil. I've been there, and you've seen nothing but a map.”

Orson Scott Card book Speaker for the Dead

Source: Speaker for the Dead

Evil

“Avoid the flourish. Do not be afraid to be weak. Do not be ashamed to be tired. You look good when you’re tired. You look like you could go on forever. Now come into my arms. You are the image of my beauty.”

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

Beauty

“It is not much good being wise among fools and sane among lunatics.”

Robert Greene book The 48 Laws of Power

Source: The 48 Laws of Power

Fools

“The one good thing about being kind of shy is that nobody bugs you when you want to be left alone.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Speak

Source: Speak

“War is an absolute failure of imagination, scientific and political. That a war can be represented as helping a people to 'feel good' about themselves, or their country, is a measure of that failure.”

Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) American poet, essayist and feminist

War, People, Feeling, Imagination

“Gonna change my way of thinking, make my self a different set of rules. Gonna put my good foot forward and stop being influenced by fools.”

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

Fools, Way, Thinking, Change

“Where did you get that?" Jace looked down and saw that the spider demon's poison had eaten a hole in his shirt, leaving a good deal of his left shoulder bare.
"The shirt? At Macy's Winter sale.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Winter

“The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation.”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

“Bouillabaisse is only good because cooked by the French, who, if they cared to try, could produce an excellent and nutritious substitute out of cigar stumps and empty matchboxes.”

Norman Douglas (1868–1952) British writer

Cooking

“I know that an author must be brave enough to chop away clinging tentacles of good taste for the sake of a great work. But this is no great work, you see.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

“Fenworth!'
Yes?'
You bore me with your prattle.'
Oh, regrettable that. Why don't you seek the company of someone who doesn't prattle? Seems like a good solution to your problem.”

Donita K. Paul (1950) American writer

Source: DragonSpell

Problem

“I don't suppose it would help if I told you that is the way life is. The good suffer, the evil flourish, and all that is mortal passes away.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Princess

Variant: Pointless, needless suffering and pain? I don’t suppose it would help if I told you that was the way life is. The good suffer, the evil flourish, and all that is mortal passes away.
Source: Clockwork Princess

Life, Way, Suffering, Evil

“The Chairman likes you.”
“Is that good?”
“I never date anyone my cat doesn’t like,” Magnus said easily, and stood up.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Ashes

Source: City of Ashes

Cats

“I have a big hole in my heart," I said. "But it'll close over."
I don't want to sound all Dr. Phil," she said. "But don't let the scab seal the pain in, okay?"
That's good advice," I said. "I hope I can manage it.”

Charlaine Harris book Definitely Dead

Source: Definitely Dead

Pain, Hope, Heart

“I'm such a good lover because I practice a lot on my own.”

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

Lovers, Funny

“At first sight, his address is certainly not striking; and his person can hardly be called handsome, till the expression of his eyes, which are uncommonly good, and the general sweetness of his countenance, is perceived.”

Jane Austen book Sense and Sensibility

Source: Sense and Sensibility

Personality

“Evil is the moment when I lack the strength to be true to the Good that compels me.”

Alain Badiou (1937) French writer and philosopher

Source: Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil

Evil

“Why does it have to be like this?' I asked bitterly. 'Why does life have to be so short, with all the good things passing quickly. Is it worth living at all?”

Joseph Delaney (1945) British writer

Source: Night of the Soul Stealer

Life

“Calvin: Dad where do babies come from?
Dad: Well Calvin, you simply go to Sears, buy the kit and follow the assembly instructions.
Calvin: I came from Sears?
Dad: No you were a blue-light special at K-Mart - almost as good and a lot cheaper!”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

Light, Baby

“I've heard a lot about you, Rose. Don't worry. It was all good."
"No, it wasn't.”

Richelle Mead book Frostbite

Source: Frostbite

“They were on the side of the angels, even if the angels weren't entirely sure that this was a good thing.”

John Connolly (1968) author

Source: The Reapers

Angels

“there are things you do because they feel right and they may make no sense and they may make no money and it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other and to eat each other's cooking and say it was good.”

Brian Andreas (1956) American artist

Variant: Real Reason:
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other's cooking & say it was good.

Love, Money, Feeling, Sense

“Good things come, but they're never perfect; are they? You have to twist them into something perfect.”

Maud Hart Lovelace (1892–1980) American writer

Source: Betsy and the Great World / Betsy's Wedding

Perfection

“Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad.”

Jeffrey R. Holland (1940) Mormon leader

Source: Created for Greater Things

Love, Thinking

“Nobody got murdered before lunch. But nobody. People weren't up to it. You needed a good lunch to get both the blood-sugar and blood-lust levels up.”

Douglas Adams The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Source: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

People

“Because sometimes people who seem good
end up being not as good as you might have hoped.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Variant: Sometimes people who seem good end up being not as good as you might have hoped, you know?
Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

People, Hope

“When you have a kid, you sign on for the whole package: good, bad, everything in between. you can't just dip in and out, picking and choosing the parts you want and quitting when it's not perfect.”

Sarah Dessen book The Moon and More

Source: The Moon and More

Parting, Perfection

“Don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens - The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.”

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer

“We aren't the good guys, Anita. We're the necessary guys. -Edward”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Skin Trade

Source: Skin Trade

Guy

“There was a time when I liked a good riot. Put on some heavy old street clothes that could stand a bit of sidewalk-scraping, infect myself with something good and contagious, then go out and stamp on some cops. It was great, being nine years old.”

Warren Ellis (1968) English comics and fiction writer

Time, Clothes

“So we reach into the raging chaos, and we cling to it, and we tell ourselves it has meaning, and that the world is good, and we are not evil, and we will all go home in the end.”

Anne Rice The Tale of the Body Thief

Source: The Tale of the Body Thief

World, Home, Rage, Evil

“All good people agree,
And all good people say,
All nice people, like Us, are We
And every one else is They:
But if you cross over the sea,
Instead of over the way,
You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
As only a sort of They!”

Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) English short-story writer, poet, and novelist

Source: Debits And Credits

People, Way, Thinking, Sea

“Don’t worry about being good…. Aspire to be authentic.”

Yann Martel book Beatrice and Virgil

Source: Beatrice and Virgil

“Wow. When he started looking back on the war with Kronos as the good old days--that was sad.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

War, Sadness

“Can’t good come around sometimes through some strange back doors?”

Donna Tartt book The Goldfinch

Source: The Goldfinch

“Remember that the best and greatest among mankind are those who do themselves no worldly good. Every successful man is more or less a selfish man. The devoted fail…”

Thomas Hardy book Jude the Obscure

Source: Jude the Obscure

Success, Selfishness

“I am larger, better than I thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness.”

Walt Whitman book Fulles d'herba

Source: Leaves of Grass

“Yes, vanity is a weakness indeed. But pride - where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.”

Jane Austen book Pride and Prejudice

Source: Pride and Prejudice

“The most basic and somehow forgettable thing is this: Love is not pain. Love is goodness. And real love--it's less shiny than solid and simple.”

Deb Caletti (1963) American writer

Source: The Secret Life of Prince Charming

Love, Pain

“Arson is a respected profession among certain subcultures in Jersey, and the good ones don't get caught. The good ones channel lightning and mysterious acts of spontaneous combustion.”

Janet Evanovich Twelve Sharp

Source: Twelve Sharp

“It turns out that one can perpetrate all manner of heinous villainy under a cloak of courtesy and good cheer… a man will forfeit all sensible self-interest if he finds you affable enough to share your company over a flagon of ale.”

Christopher Moore book Fool

Source: Fool

“And I don’t want his body touching something I wear. He’ll contaminate it. (Sasha)
Oh, good grief, Sasha. Grow up. You’re four hundred years old and you’re acting like a whelp. It’s not like he has cooties or anything. (Astrid)
Yes he does! (Sasha)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon book Dance with the Devil

Source: Dance with the Devil

“sometimes after I finished a particularly good book, I had the urge to get the library card, find out who else had read the book, and track them down to talk about it”

Jeannette Walls book Half Broke Horses

Source: Half Broke Horses

Books, Reading

“People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us… It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of.”

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

People, Way, Evil

“What made you immortal? (Nick)
Really good DNA. (Acheron)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Infinity

“On some other world, possibly it is different. Better. There are clear good and evil alternatives. Not these obscure admixtures, these blends, with no proper tool by which to untangle the components.”

Philip K. Dick book The Man in the High Castle

Source: The Man in the High Castle

World, Evil

“I love Canada… It is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos.”

Yann Martel book Life of Pi

Source: Life of Pi

Love, People, Intelligence, Sense

“Curran struck at my wrist. His fingers were cat-quick, but I had spent my life honing my reflexes, and he missed.
“Well, look at that.” I studied my free wrist. “Denied. Good-bye”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Strikes

Life, Cats, Study

“You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him. It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.”

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

Source: The Hunger Games

People, School, Way, Girl

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid”

Jane Austen book Northanger Abbey

Variant: The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid
Source: "Northanger Abbey" (1817)

Pleasure, Stupidity, Personality

“If you were wise enough to know that this life would consist mostly of letting go of things you wanted, then why not get good at the letting go, rather than the trying to have?”

Miranda July (1974) American performance artist, musician and writer

Source: The First Bad Man

Life

“What good are laws that cannot be read or understood, or a tongue that spews only hatred or ignorance? What good is the written word to an illiterate man?”

Delores Phillips (1950–2014) American writer

Source: The Darkest Child

Law, Reading

“The only word for goodness is goodness, and it is not enough.”

Pat Conroy book The Prince of Tides

Source: The Prince of Tides

“Governments will rise, and governments will fall, and man will do evil to man, and all we can do is turn our hearts to good.”

Margaret Peterson Haddix book Among the Enemy

Source: Among the Enemy

Evil, Heart

“Don’t worry if they say you’re crazy. They said that about me and yet I was saner than all of them. I knew. No matter. You know. Insane or sane, you know. It’s a good thing to know - no matter what they call it.”

Anne Sexton (1928–1974) poet from the United States

“A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.”

Madeleine L'Engle A Ring of Endless Light

Source: A Ring of Endless Light

Hurt

“It is not enough to be nice; you have to be good. We are attracted by nice people; but only on the assumption that their niceness is a sign of goodness.”

Roger Scruton (1944–2020) English philosopher

People

“Isn't there a mirror someplace where you can go admire yourself?"
"I never knew a woman so hung up on my good looks."
"All your women are hung up on your good looks. They just pretend it's your personality.”

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (1948) American writer

Source: This Heart of Mine

Women, Personality

“We believe in the wrong things, that's what frustrates me the most. Not the lack of belief, but the belief in the wrong things. You want meaning? Well, the meanings are out there. We're just so damn good at reading them wrong.”

David Levithan (1972) American author and editor

Source: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Reading

“If people were superior to animals, they'd take good care of them," said Pooh.”

Benjamin Hoff book The Tao of Pooh

Source: The Tao of Pooh

People, Animals

“We make choices everyday, some of them good, some of them bad. And - if we are strong enough - we live with the consequences.”

David Gemmell (1948–2006) British author of heroic fantasy

Strong

“Wildflower: Don't let people walk all over you, Buttercup. It's your life. If you want something, you need to get out there and grab it by the horns because no one is going to give you what you want on a plate. Good girls always come second.”

Cecelia Ahern book Love, Rosie

Source: Where Rainbows End

Life, People, Girl

“I feel myself shriveling along with my world, getting smaller and harder. I'm turning into a rock, and in some ways that's good, because rocks last forever.
But if this is how I'm going to last forever, then I don't want to.”

Susan Beth Pfeffer book Life As We Knew It

Source: Life As We Knew It

World, Way, Feeling

“The past is our definition. We may strive with good reason to escape it or to escape what is bad in it but we will escape it only by adding something better to it.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

Past

“Be kind to dragons, for thou art crunchy when toasted and taste good with ketchup. (Sebastian)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Variant: Be kind to dragonswans, for thou art gorgeous when naked and taste good with cool whip. (Channon)
Source: Dragonswan

Art

“If good things are coming, they will be a pleasant surprise," said the seer. "If bad things are, and you know in advance, you will suffer greatly before they even occur.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 102.

Suffering

“When you have a good romance, find ways to make their lives miserable and hellish… Do you think 'Titanic' would have been so popular if they had both lived? Not a prayer.”

Orson Scott Card (1951) American science fiction novelist

Way, Thinking

“Out of love,
No regrets--
Though the goodness
Be wasted forever.

Out of love,
No regrets--
Though the return
Be never.”

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist

Source: Selected Poems

Love

“The music we listen to may not define who we are. But it’s a damn good start.”

Jodi Picoult book Sing You Home

Source: Sing You Home

Music

“She squinted up at him. "But I haven't always made good decisions."

Pastor Harris smiled. "All that shows is that you're human.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Smile, Decision

“Your father always tries to see the good side of people; to find the excuse. But sometimes there isn't a good side. There isn't an excuse.
(Mom - to Lara Lington)”

Sophie Kinsella book Twenties Girl

Source: Twenties Girl

People, Moms

“It is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.”

Ernest Hemingway book The Old Man and the Sea

Source: The Old Man and the Sea

Star, Sun, Sea

“I am not good at noticing when I'm happy, except in retrospect.”

Tana French In the Woods

Source: In the Woods

Happiness

“A good book is always on tap; it may be decanted and drunk a hundred times, and it is still there for further imbibement.”

Holbrook Jackson (1874–1948) British journalist

Books, Time

“Now was not a good time, but we didn't often get to chose the time to repay our debts.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Burns

Time

“When I look down, I miss all the good stuff
And when I look up, I just trip over things…”

Ani DiFranco (1970) musician and activist

Source: Ani Difranco - Little Plastic Castle

“Bond reflected that good Americans were fine people and that most of them seemed to come from Texas.”

Ian Fleming book Casino Royale

Source: Casino Royale

People

“The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

Life

“I yield to nobody in my admiration for God, but he's no good in bed.”

Diana Norman (1933–2011) British author and journalist

Source: The Serpent's Tale

God

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books.”

Annie Barrows book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Source: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Books, Reading

“All evil is good become cancerous.”

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

Evil

“I don't feel the slightest interest in the next world; I think it's here. And I think anything good that you're going to do, you should do for other people here and not so you can try to have a happy time in the next world.”

Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003) film, stage, and television actress

People, World, Feeling, Thinking

“Point is, people lie a lot. Sometimes out of habit. Not many people are good at telling the truth.”

Jonathan Maberry book Rot & Ruin

Source: Rot & Ruin

People, Truth, Lie

“You can feel that he wants to own you - not like an object but like a good dream he wants to keep having. He lets you know that you already own him.”

Melissa Bank book The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

Source: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing

Dreams, Feeling

“My mom once told me that a good relationship isn't where the other person makes you feel better, but where they make *you* better.”

Brian K. Vaughan (1976) American screenwriter, comic book creator

Source: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores

Feeling, Moms, Personality

“Actually,” he said, “you’re not far off. Uncle Leo brought some toys for all you good little demigods.”

Rick Riordan book The Blood of Olympus

Source: The Blood of Olympus

“If there's something as good as [him] in my life, I'm going to pay for it.”

Jodi Picoult My Sister's Keeper

Source: My Sister's Keeper

Life

“Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. … The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good.”

Stephen King (1947) American author

People

“I'm naive enough to think that love is always good no matter how long ago, no matter the circumstances.”

Anne Michaels book Fugitive Pieces

Source: Fugitive Pieces

Love, Thinking

“Where people aren’t having any fun, they seldom produce good work.”

David Ogilvy book Confessions of an Advertising Man

Source: Confessions of an Advertising Man

People

“The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."”

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

"A Cult of Ignorance", Newsweek (21 January 1980) http://media.aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf <br class="br">General sources <br class="br">Context: There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

Life, Way, Democracy, Knowledge

Quotes about goodness page 34

Quotes about goodness
page 34