Quotes about goodness
page 43

“A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.”

Michel De Montaigne (1533–1592) (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman

Book III, Ch. 5
Attributed

For Wife, Anniversary, Wedding, For Him

“They defy gravity, as good books should.”

David Levithan Boy Meets Boy

Source: Boy Meets Boy

Books

“It was probably good you couldn't flip the love switch because sometimes it was what you needed even if you didn't want it.”

Ann Brashares book Sisterhood Everlasting

Source: Sisterhood Everlasting

Love

“When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, an evasion simply muddles 'em.”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Pt. 1, ch. 9
Atticus Finch
Source: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Children

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”

Ansel Adams (1902–1984) American photographer and environmentalist

Attributed to Adams in E.T. Schoch (2002), The Everything Digital Photography Book (2002) p. 105

“It's salt. Why don't you sprinkle some on me, honey? Aren't I just good enough to eat?”

Grant Morrison (1960) writer

Source: Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth

“Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good.”

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer

"Many people believe Samuel Johnson said it, but no one seems to have found it anywhere in his works or letters, or, for that matter any of the biographies of him by his contemporaries. I'm basing that on what's been included in Primary Source Media's CD-ROM of Johnson and Boswell. The CD-ROM includes all of Johnson's writings in the canon, Boswell's Life of Johnson and Tour of the Hebrides, as well as accounts from Hester Thrale, Sir John Hawkins, Fanny Burney, plus O.M. Brack's 'Early Biographies.' In short, practically nothing from the 18th Century has been left out. In addition, I've also consulted 'The Beauties of Johnson,' an 18th Century collection of Johnson quotations." “Your manuscript is both good and original. …” http://www.samueljohnson.com/goodorig.html at The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page http://www.samueljohnson.com/ Retrieved 2013-07-07 Misattributed

Parting

“A great novel heightens your senses and sensitivity to the complexities of life and of individuals, and prevents you from the self-righteousness that sees morality in fixed cormulas about good and evil.”

Azar Nafisi book Reading Lolita in Tehran

Source: Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)

Life, Sense, Evil

“Sit down, Will. There’s a good fellow,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” replied Will, and Halt’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“He’s never called me sir,” he said.
“Probably trying to get on my good side,” Crowley replied.
Halt nodded savagely. “Probably.”

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

Source: Erak's Ransom

“Some people cannot see a good thing when it is right here, right now. Others can sense a good thing coming when it is days, months, or miles away.”

Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet

People, Sense

“How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

“In this world of gossip, a good listener is rarer than a great orator.”

Christopher Pike (1954) American author Kevin Christopher McFadden

Source: Black Blood

World

“Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing.”

Rick Riordan book The Lightning Thief

Source: The Lightning Thief

Future

“Did you bring me a hamburger?
Did I-No, Myrnin, I didn't bring you a hamburger. Bizarre. He'd never asked for that before.
Coffee?
It's late.
Doughnuts?
No.
What good are you then?”

Rachel Caine (1962) American writer

Source: Bitter Blood

Coffee

“Good can still exist when bad things happen, just as evil persists when good things happen.” - Carter to Georgina”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Succubus Shadows

Evil

“I really wish you hadn't worn that sweater,'he muttered into her ear.
'It's good practice for you,' she replied, her lips moving against his skin.
'Tomorrow, fishnets.'
Against her side, warm and familiar, she felt him laugh.”

Cassandra Clare The City of Lost Souls

Source: City of Lost Souls

“The wise and good are outnumbered a thousand to one by the brutal and stupid.”

Douglas Preston book The Cabinet of Curiosities

Source: The Cabinet of Curiosities

Stupidity

“Husbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

As quoted in Marilyn Monroe : In Her Own Words (1983), edited by Roger Taylor
Variant: Husbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives.

Lovers

“We all do what we can, and it has to be good enough, and if it isn't good enough, it has to do.”

Stephen King book The Dead Zone

Source: The Dead Zone 1979

“Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.”

Ryan North (1980) Canadian webcomic writer and programmer

“So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign,
Under her own weight groaning.”

John Milton book Paradise Lost

Source: Paradise Lost

Men, World

“The dripping blood our only drink,
The bloody flesh our only food:
In spite of which we like to think
That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood--
Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author

Food, Drink, Thinking

“The scholar does not consider gold and jade to be precious treasures, but loyalty and good faith.”

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

Source: The Ethics of Confucius

Faith, Loyalty

“I talk to myself everyone once in a while. Give myself very good advice. Sometimes I even take it.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Guilty Pleasures

Source: Guilty Pleasures

“When you encounter seemingly good advice that contradicts other seemingly good advice, ignore them both.”

Al Franken (1951) American comedian and politician

Oh, the Things I Know (2002)

“…there’s nothing in the world more fun than doing something you’re good at.”

Clive Barker book Galilee

Source: Galilee

World

“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”

Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer

Funny

“The last good time always comes, and when you see the darkness creeping toward you, you hold on to what was bright and good. You hold on for dear life.”

Stephen King book Joyland

Source: Joyland

Life, Time

“What are you up to now?" "I'm sill crazy. The rain feels good. I love to walk in it.”

Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451

Source: Fahrenheit 451

Love, Feeling

“Despite my staggering good looks, you actually don't like me that way…" (Jace)”

Cassandra Clare book City of Glass

Source: City of Glass

Way

“Don't go there Rule" Lawe warned him softly. " I don't think your horoscope declared today to be a good day to die.”

Lora Leigh (1965) American writer

Source: Lawe's Justice

Law, Thinking

“Except for the people who were there that one day they discovered the polio vaccine, being part of history is rarely a good idea. History is one war after another with a bunch of murders and natural disasters in between.”

Sarah Vowell book Assassination Vacation

Source: Assassination Vacation (2005), p. 208

War, People, History, Idea

“But most dragons seem to have interesting personalities--besides probably having quite good reasons for what they do, if only one could understand them”

Diana Wynne Jones book Fire and Hemlock

Source: Fire and Hemlock

Understanding, Personality

“Different people were good at different things, Lena mused. Lena was good at writing thank-you notes, for instance, and Effie was good at being happy.”

Ann Brashares The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Source: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

People, Happiness

“I haven't had a very good day. I think I might still be hung over and everyone's dead and my root beer's gone.”

Holly Black book The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Source: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Beer, Thinking, Dead

“Sausage-Seller: You [demagogues] are like the fishers for eels; in still waters they catch nothing, but if they thoroughly stir up the slime, their fishing is good; in the same way it's only in troublous times that you line your pockets.”

Aristophanés The Knights

tr. O'Neill 1938, Perseus http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Aristoph.+Kn.+864 ὅπερ γὰρ οἱ τὰς ἐγχέλεις θηρώμενοι πέπονθας. ὅταν μὲν ἡ λίμνη καταστῇ, λαμβάνουσιν οὐδέν· ἐὰν δ᾽ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω τὸν βόρβορον κυκῶσιν, αἱροῦσι· καὶ σὺ λαμβάνεις, ἢν τὴν πόλιν ταράττῃς. Knights, line 864-867 Dialog aimed at the politician Cleon, symbolizing demagogues for the author. Knights (424 BC) Source: The Knights

Way, Fish, Water, Time

“I see no good reason why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of any one.”

Charles Darwin book On the Origin of Species (1859)

Source: On the Origin of Species (1859), chapter XV: "Recapitulation and Conclusion", page 421 http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?pageseq=449&itemID=F391&viewtype=image, in the sixth (1872) edition Source: The Origin of Species

Feeling

“I want to see your tailpipe fading off into the sunset."
Good luck, I thought. My tailpipe was somewhere on Route 1, along with my muffler.”

Janet Evanovich book One for the Money

Source: One for the Money

“What are you doing in Nicky's room, Rachel? Oooh! He summoned you to the west coast, didn't he? Did you kill him? Good for you taking care of that little problem? I should give you a bunny!" - Algaliarept”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Black Magic Sanction

Problem

“Good writers are those who keep the language efficient.”

Ezra Pound book ABC of Reading

Source: ABC of Reading (1934), Chapter 3
Context: Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.

“That was terribly thoughtless of you. What good is having friends if they don’t put you in mortal peril every once in a while?”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Rithmatist

“…I said everything that matters… Don't take my advice. Or anyone's advice. Trust yourself. For good or for bad, happy or unhappy, it's your life, and what you do with it has always been entirely up to you.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Best of Me

Evelyn Collier, Chapter 15, p. 223
Source: 2009, The Best of Me (2011)

Life, Happiness

“By definition, love made you better than good enough; it redefined perfection to include your traits, instead of excluding them.”

Jodi Picoult book Handle With Care

Source: Handle with Care

Love, Perfection

“Ask once, believe you have received, and all you have to do to receive is feel good.”

Rhonda Byrne book The Secret

Source: The Secret

Feeling

“Funny, how one good cookie could calm the mind and even elevate a troubled soul.”

Dean Koontz book False Memory

Source: False Memory

Soul

“Perhaps all the good that ever has come here has come because people prayed it into the world.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

Source: Jayber Crow

People, World

“Life was good, one had only to live it.”

Jorge Amado (1912–2001) Brazilian writer

Source: Gabriela, Clavo y Canela

Life

“A woman had to choose her own particular unhappiness carefully. That was the only happiness in life: to choose the best unhappiness. An unwise move, good God, you could squander everything.”

Lorrie Moore (1957) American writer

Source: Bark: Stories

Life, God, Happiness

“What were you going to do with it?” McCain asked.

"I just thought it might come in useful.”

"Were you planning to attack me?”

"No. But that’s a good idea.”

Anthony Horowitz book Crocodile Tears

Source: Crocodile Tears

Idea

“But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

Evil

“Come, pluck up a good heart; speak the truth and shame the devil.”

Francois Rabelais book Gargantua and Pantagruel

Author's prologue.
Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532–1564), Fifth Book (1564)

Truth, Heart

“Words — so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) American novelist and short story writer (1804 – 1879)

1848
Notebooks, The American Notebooks (1835 - 1853)

Evil

“If you're going to lick the icing off somebody else's cake you won't be nourished and it won't do you any good, or you might find the cake had caraway seeds and you hate them.”

Emily Carr (1871–1945) Canadian painter and writer

Hate

“There was so much goodness in my life. So much happiness. I wondered whether I deserved any of it.”

Khaled Hosseini book The Kite Runner

Source: The Kite Runner

Life, Happiness

“Zee said, grumpily, “Liebling, this is not a good idea.”
“Zee,” I told him, “I am completely out of good ideas and am doing my best with the bad ones I have left.”

Patricia Briggs book Frost Burned

Source: Frost Burned

Idea

“After doing extensive research, I can definitely tell you that single malt whiskies are good to drink.”

Iain Banks Raw Spirit

Source: Raw Spirit

Drink

“I trust you to find the good in me, but the bad I must be sure you don't overlook.”

Gail Carson Levine Ella Enchanted

Source: Ella Enchanted

“I’m a word freak. I like words. I’ve always compared writing to music. That’s the way I feel about good paragraphs. When it really works, it’s like music.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author

Music, Way, Feeling

“How goodness heightens beauty!”

Milan Kundera (1929–2023) Czech author of Czech and French literature

Beauty

“When you have only two minutes to say good-bye to the person you love most in the world, and you don’t know when you’ll see each other again, you can become logjammed with the effort to say and do and settle everything at once.”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Source: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage

Love, World, Effort, Personality

“A man is truly a man when he wins the love of a good woman, earns her respect, and keeps her trust. Until you can do that, you're not a man.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Love

“Very good, Jason Grace," Notus said. "You are a son of Jupiter, yet you have chosen your own path- as all the greatest demigods have done before you. You cannot control your parentage, but youchoose your legacy.”

Rick Riordan book The House of Hades

Source: The House of Hades

“I don’t think so,” Clary said. “I think maybe she reminded me of you.”
“Because I’m tiny, blonde, and look good in pigtails?”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Source: City of Heavenly Fire

Thinking

“I don't know. I imagine good teaching as a circle of earnest people sitting down to ask each other meaningful questions. I don't see it as a handing down of answers…”

Alice Walker (1944) American author and activist

People, Imagination, Question

“If you married me, it would be scandalous and innapropriate, and doors would be closed to you."
"Good God, woman, I let two of my sisters marry Gypsies. Those doors have already been closed, bolted, and nailed shut.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Married By Morning

God, Sister

“Don’t try to make life a mathematics problem with yourself in the center and everything coming out equal. When you’re good, bad things can still happen. And if you’re bad, you can still be lucky.”

Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible

Source: The Poisonwood Bible

Life, Mathematics, Problem

“It takes no more time to see the good side of life than to see the bad.”

Jimmy Buffett (1946) American singer–songwriter and businessman

Life, Time

“I'm just not having a very good time and I don't have any reason to think it'll get anything but worse. I'm tired. I'm hurt. I'm sad. I feel used.”

Marsha Norman 'night, Mother

Source: 'night, Mother

Sadness, Feeling, Thinking, Time

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with returning to the house you grew up in every now and again. It's good for the soul.”

Cecelia Ahern (1981) Irish novelist

Source: P.S. I Love You

Soul, Housing

“It's actually very difficult to make something both simple and good.”

Paul Simon (1941) American musician, songwriter and producer

“That is like throwing two virgins into a bed. Enthusiasm, passion, and ignorance are not a good combination. Someone is likely to get hurt.”

Patrick Rothfuss book The Wise Man's Fear

Source: The Wise Man's Fear

Passion, Hurt

“Patrick actually used to be popular before Sam bought him some good music.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Music

“To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.”

Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) French writer (1821–1880)

13 August 1846
Correspondence, Letters to Madame Louise Colet

Happy, Health, Stupidity, Selfishness

“A kind of light spread out from her. And everything changed color. And the world opened out. And a day was good to awaken to. And there were no limits to anything. And the people of the world were good and handsome. And I was not afraid any more.”

John Steinbeck book East of Eden

Source: East of Eden

People, World, Color, Light

“Justice is the only worship.
Love is the only priest.
Ignorance is the only slavery.
Happiness is the only good.
The time to be happy is now,
The place to be happy is here,
The way to be happy is to make others so.
Wisdom is the science of happiness.”

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

Love, Wisdom, Justice, Way

“I’m so sleepy.”
“My beautiful girl, dawn nears. And all good vampires are to bed.”
She eased up, arching a brow at him. “Then you’ll stay awake.”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: Lothaire

Beauty, Girl

“it is good to be sitting some place
in public at 2:30 in the afternoon
without getting the flesh ripped from
your bones.”

Charles Bukowski book The People Look Like Flowers at Last

Source: The People Look Like Flowers at Last

“Regrets are the most useless form of guilt. They always arrive too late to do any good.”

Eileen Wilks Tempting Danger

Source: Tempting Danger

“What if it can't be worked out? What if I'm—what if I'm broken for good?”

Alyson Nöel book Dark Flame

Source: Dark Flame

“A good novelist does not lead his characters, he follows them. A good novelist does not create events, he watches them happen and then writes down what he sees.”

Stephen King book Finders Keepers

Source: Finders Keepers

“It's good not to be the only girl in the fight for once.”

Laurell K. Hamilton book Bullet

Source: Bullet

Girl, Fight

“live out where the real winds blow—to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested… Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll.”

Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author

1980s, Generation of Swine (1988)
Context: Maybe there is no Heaven. Or maybe this is all pure gibberish — a product of the demented imagination of a lazy drunken hillbilly with a heart full of hate who has found a way to live out where the real winds blow — to sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whisky, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested...
Res ipsa loquitur. Let the good times roll.

Love, Drink, Sleep, Time

“She has man's brain--a brain that a man should have were he much gifted--and woman's heart. The good God fashioned her for a purpose, believe me when He made that so good combination.”

Bram Stoker book Dracula

Source: Dracula

God, Fashion, Heart

“Luxury is not a necessity to me, but beautiful and good things are.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Beauty

“First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.”

Steve Martin (1945) American actor, comedian, musician, author, playwright, and producer

Disease

“Good enough is good enough. Perfect will make you a big fat mess every time.”

Rebecca Wells (1952) American writer

Source: The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder

Time, Perfection

“Knowing that wishes don’t always come about in the way that we think, but if you believe and keep your mind open, there’s a really good chance they will manifest in some way.”

Alyson Nöel (1965) writer

Source: Night Star

Way, Thinking, Chance

“Well," I said finally, knowing he was waiting, "you make me laugh."
He nodded. "And?"
"You're pretty good-looking."
"Pretty good-looking? I called you beautiful."
"You want to be beautiful?" I asked him.
"Are you saying I'm not?”

Sarah Dessen book This Lullaby

Source: This Lullaby

Beauty, Waiting

“To think what is true, to sense what is beautiful and to want what is good, hereby the spirit finds purpose of a life in reason.”

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic

Life, Beauty, Thinking, Sense

“He looks at you a lot. When you're not paying attention. He looks at you, to see if you're having a good time.”

Jenny Han book To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Source: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Time

“Good friends are hard to come by.. I need more money.”

Bill Watterson (1958) American comic artist

The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes

Money

“It was good to walk into a library again; it smelled like home.”

Elizabeth Kostova book The Historian

Source: The Historian

Home

“It's a good thing you and your pills weren't around a few hundred years ago or there never would have been a Vermeer or a Caravaggio. You'd have drugged "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "The Taking of Christ" right the hell out of them.”

Jennifer Donnelly book Revolution

Source: Revolution

Girl, Hell, Christ

“… One thing you learn when you've lived as long as I have-people aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I'm pleased to be in the light.”

Neal Shusterman book Unwind

Variant: One thing yo learn when you've lived as long as I have-people aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I'm pleased to be in the light.
Source: Unwind

People, Light, Learning