Quotes about goodness
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“There's me and then there's you, and you aren't ever going to be as good as me, Sweet Thing."
Ranger”

Source: One for the Money

“None of us are either all good or all bad – we’re all somewhere in between – but there comes a moment in each life when we take an important step, either toward the light or toward the dark…”

Joseph Delaney (1945) British writer

Source: Attack of the Fiend

Life, Light

“You do have the idea of being ‘just good friends?’”
He gave her a sideways look. “For so high and honorable an estate,” Roshaun said, “ ‘just’ seems a poor modifier to choose.”

Diane Duane Wizards at War

Source: Wizards at War

Idea

“I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American poet

“Well, for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. We're teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it. Create your own. Most people can't do it.”

Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie

Source: Tuesdays with Morrie

People, Feeling, Strong

“Never forget that God is your friend. And like all friends, He longs to hear what's been happening in your life. Good or bad, whether it's been full of sorrow or anger, or even when you're questioning why terrible things have to happen.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Life, God, Question, Anger

“Good writers are monotonous, like good composers. They keep trying to perfect the one problem they were born to understand.”

Alberto Moravia (1907–1990) Italian writer and journalist

Interviewed in The New Yorker, May 7, 1955.

Understanding, Problem, Perfection

“Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”

Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist

“People don't make good Anchors, though, Craig. They change.”

Ned Vizzini (1981–2013) American writer

People, Change

“Good luck, boss. Don't let'em turn you into horse meat! (Blackjack)”

Rick Riordan book The Last Olympian

Source: The Last Olympian

Horse

“I wasn't a misanthrope and I wasn't a misogynist but I liked being alone. It felt good to sit alone in a small space and smoke and drink. I had always been good company for myself.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Drink

“Truly good manners are invisible: they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves. It is no accident that the word "punctilious" ("attentive to formality or etiquette") comes from the same original root as punctuation.”

Lynne Truss (1955) British writer

Source: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Way, Drawing

“Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it's good.”

Karen Marie Moning (1964) author

Source: Shadowfever

Evil

“need is never a good basis for any relationship. it has to be much more than that.”

David Levithan book Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Source: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

“I find it most remarkable that we who are so intimately involved in the battle between good and evil are even more involved with the shades of gray in between them.”

Christopher Golden (1967) American writer

Source: Sons of Entropy

Evil

“Goodness," Tessa said to the back of his head. "If you keep seeing Six-Fingered Nigel like this, he'll expect you to declare your intentions.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Angel

Source: Clockwork Angel

“buying books would be a good thing if we also could buy the time to read them.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Books, Time, Reading

“She nods. You're good for the ones you love. You want to be good for the ones you love, because you know that your time with them will end up being too short, no matter how long it is.”

Stephen King book Lisey's Story

Source: Lisey's Story

Love, Time

“I advise those who want to become writers to study veterinary medicine, which is easier. You don't want to be a writer unless you have no choice - and if you have no choice, good luck to you.”

Robin McKinley (1952) American fantasy writer

Study

“To give a man 5 sous because he is poor and has no bread is perfect, but to give him a blowjob because he has no girlfriend is too much of a good thing: you don't have to do that.”

Michel Houellebecq (1956) writer

Perfection

“Once you best a man, never gloat. Be generous and find something in his actions to praise. He won't enjoy being bested but he'll make a good face about it. Show him you appreciate it. Praise can win you a friend. Gloating will only ever make enemies.”

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

Source: The Ruins of Gorlan

“Next morning I went over to Paul’s for coffee and told him I had finished. “Good for you,” he said without looking up. “Start the next one today.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Coffee

“Everything about it was wrong. Thats why it worked so good.”

Hubert Selby Jr. (1928–2004) American writer

“The good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the Universe which runs through himself and all things.”

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

Universe

“A good conversation always involves a certain amount of complaining. I like to bond over mutual hatreds and petty grievances.”

Lisa Kleypas book Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor

Source: Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor

“Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning.”

William Goldman book The Princess Bride

Source: The Princess Bride

Sleep, Night

“Take a drink because you pity yourself, and then the drink pities you and has a drink, and then two good drinks get together and that calls for drinks all around.”

H. Beam Piper book Little Fuzzy

Source: Little Fuzzy

Drink

“Good. Show me a man who thinks that he knows what 'good' is, and I will probably be able to show you a horror of a person. Show me a person who really knows what 'good' is, and I will show you that he almost never uses the word.”

Idries Shah book Caravan of Dreams

Source: Caravan of Dreams

Thinking, Personality

“You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it.
That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”

Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006) American science fiction writer

Thinking

“There were lies we told to save ourselves, and then there were lies we told to rescue others. What counted more, the mistruth, or the greater good?”

Jodi Picoult book Handle With Care

Source: Handle with Care

“The weird thing about saying good-bye is that it never gets easier.”

Alyson Nöel book Blue Moon

Source: Blue Moon

“Neophyte, n.

There are millions upon millions of people who have been through this before-- why is it that no one can give my good advice?”

David Levithan The Lover's Dictionary

Source: The Lover's Dictionary

People

“Translators are like ninjas. If you notice them, they’re no good.”

Etgar Keret (1967) Israeli and polish writer and screenwriter

“She loved with so much passion as she loved with ignorance. She did not know whether it were good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary or accidental, eternal or transitory, permitted or prohibited: she loved.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

Love, Passion, Evil

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

Andy Warhol (1928–1987) American artist

Love, Hate, Art, Thinking

“Evil to some is always good to others”

Jane Austen book Emma

Source: Emma

Evil

“Ritie, don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty. Plenty pretty women I seen digging ditches or worse. You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind.”

Maya Angelou book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Source: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Women, God

“I've long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime 'associates,' food, for me, has always been an adventure.”

Anthony Bourdain book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Kitchen Confidential (2000)
Source: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Food

“To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better.”

Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist

Mettre tout en équilibre, c'est bien; mettre tout en harmonie, c'est mieux. <br class="br">Quatre-vingt-treize (Ninety-Three) (1874), Book VII, Chapter V http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Quatre-vingt-treize_-_III%2C_7#V_LE_CACHOT <br class="br">Ninety-Three (1874)

Deep

“A good man is as strong as the right woman needs him to be.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Strong

“Being a writer is a good, good thing.”

Shannon Hale (1974) American fantasy novelist

“The news of life is carried via telephone. A baby's birth, a couple engaged, a tragic car accident on a late night highway - most milestones of the human journey, good or bad, are foreshadowed by the sound of a ringing.”

Mitch Albom (1958) American author

Source: The First Phone Call from Heaven

Life, Cars, Birth, Baby

“Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good. 'Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm.”

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

Thinking

“Many undoubtedly owe their good fortune to the circumstance that they possess a pleasing smile with which they win hearts. Yet these hearts would do better to beware and to learn from Hamlet's tables that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German philosopher

Source: Essays and Aphorisms

Smile, Learning, Heart

“You need to follow your own heart in light of God’s word and do what you feel is right and good for you.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

God, Feeling, Light, Heart

“Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not "This is misfortune," but "To bear this worthily is good fortune.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations

Feeling, Future

“When good Americans die, they go to Paris,' the ghost said, after taking a drag on a small cigarette.
But you’re not dead. I suppose the question must be, are you good?”

Karen Chance American writer

Source: Embrace the Night

Question, Dead

“If the guy likes/loves you, he won't care if you are a good kisser or not.
He should like you for what you are - not how you kiss.”

Meg Cabot (1967) Novelist

Source: Princess in Love

Love, Guy, Kiss

“It is always far easier to have faith in your own goodness than to confront others ad fight for your rights…”

Paulo Coelho book The Devil and Miss Prym

Source: The Devil and Miss Prym

Faith, Fight

“We have a saying in Tibet: If a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good.”

Heinrich Harrer book Seven Years in Tibet

Source: Seven Years in Tibet

Problem

“You'd tell the world what your best friend wore to sleep if you thought it made a good enough story.”

Patricia Briggs (1965) American writer

Source: The Hob's Bargain

World, Sleep

“They tried to kill me,” he said, his brow furrowed as he glared at them. “You saw them!”

“Yeah?” I spouted off. “They weren’t very good at it!”

(Trent and Rachel)”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Pale Demon

“Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don't forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth.”

Paula Danziger (1945–2004) American children's writer

Pain, People, Truth, Forgetting

“Sorry, Ms. Terwilliger. I'm flattered that you think I'm such an upstanding person, but I'm already caught up in one epic battle of good versus evil. I don't need another.”

Richelle Mead book The Golden Lily

Source: The Golden Lily

Thinking, Evil, Personality

“Will there be poppy juice in it?"
Phresine shook her head.
"Good. My wife and I agreed that only my wine was to be poisoned.”

Megan Whalen Turner The King of Attolia

Source: The King of Attolia

Wine

“We’ve all got weaknesses. Me, for instance. I’m tragically funny and good-looking.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

“I'd have to kill Dimitri for real this time and lose any chance I might have to bring back my prince. Damn. It's a good thing I work well under pressure.”

Richelle Mead Blood Promise

Source: Blood Promise

Chance, Time

“God, it was good to let go, let the tight mask fall off, and the bewildered, chaotic fragments pour out. It was the purge, the catharsis.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

God

“Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know, is bad, or amoral, at least. You can't act if you don't know. Acting without knowing takes you right off the cliff.”

Ray Bradbury book Something Wicked This Way Comes

Source: Something Wicked This Way Comes

“Lies are neither bad nor good. Like a fire they can either keep you warm or burn you to death, depending on how they're used.”

Max Brooks book World War Z

Source: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Death, Dependency

“Curran growled. "Later, babycakes."Asshole. "Good hunting, sugar woogums.”

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Slays

“Money. It's a good servant but a bad master.”

Gretchen Rubin (1966) American writer

Source: The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Money