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goodness quotes

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“If goodness has causes, it is not goodness; if it has effects, a reward, it is not goodness either. So goodness is outside the chain of cause and effect.” Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
“Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.” Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
“If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it.” Pope Francis, Laudato si'
“Horrible my iniquities had been; But Infinite Goodness hath such ample arms, That it receives whatever turns to it.” Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy
“It is not possible to know how far the influence of any amiable honest-hearted duty-doing man flies out into the world” Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
“now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates.” Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
“intentions, good or bad, are not enough.” John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
“How good life is when one does something good and just!” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“Be happy, noble heart, be blessed for all the good thou hast done and wilt do hereafter, and let my gratitude remain in obscurity like your good deeds.” Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
“all good things are wild and free.” Henry David Thoreau, Walking
“Simple, generous goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail, and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us.” Louisa May Alcott, Little Men
“You’ve a good heart . . . Sometimes that’s enough to see you safe wherever you go . . . But mostly, it’s not.” Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere
“Nothing can make it moral to destroy the best. One can't be punished for being good. One can't be penalized for ability.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
“All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not the science of goodness.” Michel de Montaigne, The Essays of Michel de Montaigne
“I hate purity, I hate goodness! I don't want any virtue to exist anywhere. I want everyone to be corrupt to the bones.” George Orwell, 1984
“People don't do me much good.” Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye
“there are honor and goodness in the world, the same as there are diamonds and radium.” Marilyn Monroe, My Story
“Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.” William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
“Benevolence is often very peremptory.” W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
“That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“The world seems full of good men, even if there are monsters in it.” Bram Stoker, Dracula
“He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.” William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan
“she thought there were no Gods; no one was to blame; and so she evolved this atheist's religion of doing good for the sake of goodness.” Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway
“There is not much danger that real talent or goodness will be overlooked long, even if it is, the consciousness of possessing and using it well should satisfy one, and the great charm of all power is modesty.” Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“Your goodness must have some edge to it, —else it is none.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
“Do not act as if thou wert going to live ten thousand years. Death hangs over thee. While thou livest, while it is in thy power, be good.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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action virtue fame choice truth life humanity knowledge justice speech religion modesty freedom heart power responsibility honesty world bravery morality

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Oscar Wilde (1)
Marcus Aurelius (3)
Louisa May Alcott (2)
William Shakespeare (2)
Henry David Thoreau (1)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1)
John Steinbeck (1)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1)
George Orwell (1)
Mark Twain (1)
Dante Alighieri (1)
Ayn Rand (1)
Neil Gaiman (1)
Charles Bukowski (1)
Virginia Woolf (1)
Leo Tolstoy (1)
Charles Dickens (1)
Marilyn Monroe (1)
Michel de Montaigne (1)
Alexandre Dumas (1)

Related sources

Meditations (3)
The Brothers Karamazov (1)
1984 (1)
Great Expectations (1)
The Winter of Our Discontent (1)
Mrs Dalloway (1)
Anna Karenina (1)
Self-Reliance (1)
Ham on Rye (1)
Of Human Bondage (1)
The Count of Monte Cristo (1)
The Essays of Michel de Montaigne (1)
Dracula (1)
Little Women (1)
My Story (1)
Measure for Measure (1)
Atlas Shrugged (1)
Titus Andronicus (1)
Divine Comedy (1)
Neverwhere (1)