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goodness quotes

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“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'
“intentions, good or bad, are not enough.” John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
“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
“If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
“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
“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
“How good life is when one does something good and just!” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“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
“You’ve a good heart . . . Sometimes that’s enough to see you safe wherever you go . . . But mostly, it’s not.” Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere
“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
“Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.” Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
“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
“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
“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
“Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.” William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
“Horrible my iniquities had been; But Infinite Goodness hath such ample arms, That it receives whatever turns to it.” Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy
“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
“Your goodness must have some edge to it, —else it is none.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
“He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.” William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus
“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
“there are honor and goodness in the world, the same as there are diamonds and radium.” Marilyn Monroe, My Story
“all good things are wild and free.” Henry David Thoreau, Walking
“People don't do me much good.” Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye
“Benevolence is often very peremptory.” W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
“It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan
“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 other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not the science of goodness.” Michel de Montaigne, The Essays of Michel de Montaigne

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

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

Related sources

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