“I would have remembered the good stuff.
Nobody ever remembers the good stuff.”
Tiffanie DeBartolo (1970) American writer
Source: How to Kill a Rock Star
Quotes about goodness page 45
“Stupid people always ignored good advice”
Johanna Lindsey (1952–2019) American writer
Source: All I Need Is You
Aphra Behn (1640–1689) British playwright, poet, translator and fiction writer
The Lucky Mistake (1689).
Source: The Lucky Chance, Or, the Alderman's Bargain
“There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good.”
Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor
“I say good-bye to the part of myself that misses him so much.”
David Levithan (1972) American author and editor
Source: How They Met, and Other Stories
“Just as a good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche.”
Julia Cameron (1948) American writer
Source: The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life
William Gibson (1948) American-Canadian speculative fiction novelist and founder of the cyberpunk subgenre
“People generally didn't cheat in good relationships.”
Emily Giffin (1972) American writer
Source: Something Blue
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Compensation
Context: Every excess causes a defect; every defect an excess. Every sweet hath its sour; every evil its good. Every faculty which is a receiver of pleasure has an equal penalty put on its abuse. It is to answer for its moderation with its life. For every grain of wit there is a grain of folly. For every thing you have missed, you have gained something else; and for every thing you gain, you lose something. If riches increase, they are increased that use them. If the gatherer gathers too much, nature takes out of the man what she puts into his chest; swells the estate, but kills the owner. Nature hates monopolies and exceptions.
“Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.”
Malcolm Gladwell (1963) journalist and science writer
Source: Outliers: The Story of Success
“We are here on earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I do not know.”
Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools
Source: Essays In Criticism By Matthew Arnold
“I've always been a very good judge of people. That's why I like so very few of them.”
Donna VanLiere (1966) American writer
Source: The Christmas Note
“He could hardly read or write but his heart spoke the language of the good”
Primo Levi (1918–1987) Italian chemist, memoirist, short story writer, novelist, essayist
John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) British philosopher and political economist
Source: An examination of Sir William Hamilton's philosophy, and of the principal philosophical questions discussed in his writings
“Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it.”
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) English mystery and detective writer
“What good did it do to light the world on fire if she had to watch the glow alone?”
Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer
Source: Firefly Lane
Kresley Cole American writer
Source: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer
Source: You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
Kim Edwards book The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Source: The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Dave Barry (1947) American writer
The Taming of the Screw (1983)
Source: The Taming of the Screw: How to Sidestep Several Million Homeowner's Problems
“I hadn't gotten far when I ran into Mason.
Good God. Men everywhere.”
Richelle Mead book Frostbite
Source: Frostbite
“Be a good animal, true to your instincts.”
D.H. Lawrence book The White Peacock
Source: The White Peacock
“Hope," Frank grumbled. "I'd rather have a few good weasels.”
Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune
Source: The Son of Neptune
James Joyce book A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Source: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author
Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
“fate is not just whose cooking smells good, but which way the wind blows”
Ani DiFranco (1970) musician and activist
“people are not good to each other.
perhaps if they were
our deaths would not be so sad.”
Charles Bukowski book Love Is a Dog from Hell
Source: Love Is a Dog from Hell
Vincent Van Gogh book The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
1880s, 1880, Letter to Theo (Cuesmes, July 1880)
Source: The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
Context: So please don't think that I am renouncing anything, I am reasonably faithful in my unfaithfulness and though I have changed, I am the same, and what preys on my mind is simply this one question: what am I good for, could I not be of service or use in some way, how can I become more knowledgeable and study some subject or other in depth? That is what keeps preying on my mind, you see, and then one feels imprisoned by poverty, barred from taking part in this or that project and all sorts of necessities are out of one's reach. As a result one cannot rid oneself of melancholy, one feels emptiness where there might have been friendship and sublime and genuine affection, and one feels dreadful disappointment gnawing at one's spiritual energy, fate seems to stand in the way of affection or one feels a wave of disgust welling up inside. And then one says “How long, my God!”
“Sometimes the only way the good Lord can get into some hearts is to break them.”
Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) Catholic bishop and television presenter
“It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute.”
Will Rogers (1879–1935) American humorist and entertainer
“All poets write bad poetry. Bad poets publish them, good poets burn them.”
Umberto Eco (1932–2016) Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist
Scott Alexander (1963) American writer, director and producer
“They say money talks, but all mine ever says is 'good-bye sucker.”
Jill Shalvis (1963) American writer
Source: Head Over Heels
“All kings are blind. The good ones see this and use more than their eyes to lead.”
Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist
Source: Lover Avenged
“Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.”
Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American baseball player, manager, coach
“The world is full of good people who do bad things!”
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) English mystery and detective writer
Richard Dawkins book The Magic of Reality
Source: The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True
Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games
Katniss, p. 189
Source: The Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire (2009)
“Dear me! how happy and good we'd be, if we had no worries!”
Louisa May Alcott book Little Women
Source: Little Women
“Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn.”
Garrison Keillor (1942) American radio host and writer
“Good tuna-fish sandwiches; he’s the tallest man I’ve ever seen! (Pam)”
Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist
Source: Acheron
“Good and great are seldom in the same man.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom