| | |

Goodness quotes

edits filters

“How good life is when one does something good and just!” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov” - 1880

“If it is not right, do not do it: if it is not true, do not say it.” Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations” - c. 170 - 180

“Horrible my iniquities had been; But Infinite Goodness hath such ample arms, That it receives whatever turns to it.” Dante Alighieri, “Divine Comedy” - 1320

“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” - 1883

“Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.” William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure” - 1623

“He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause.” William Shakespeare, “Titus Andronicus” - 1594

“Your goodness must have some edge to it, —else it is none.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance” - 1841

“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” - 1868

“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” - 1877

“Benevolence is often very peremptory.” W. Somerset Maugham, “Of Human Bondage” - 1915

“That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.” Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations” - c. 170 - 180

“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” - 1949

“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” - c. 170 - 180

“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” - 1925

“You’ve a good heart . . . Sometimes that’s enough to see you safe wherever you go . . . But mostly, it’s not.” Neil Gaiman, “Neverwhere” - 1996

Related topics

virtue action life truth modesty speech justice purity bravery heart power religion fame safety causality limit talent reward benevolence iniquity

Related authors

Marcus Aurelius (3)
William Shakespeare (2)
Mark Twain (1)
George Orwell (1)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1)
Virginia Woolf (1)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1)
Louisa May Alcott (1)
Leo Tolstoy (1)
Dante Alighieri (1)
W. Somerset Maugham (1)
Neil Gaiman (1)

Related sources

Meditations (3)
Measure for Measure (1)
Titus Andronicus (1)
1984 (1)
Self-Reliance (1)
Mrs Dalloway (1)
The Brothers Karamazov (1)
Little Women (1)
Anna Karenina (1)
Divine Comedy (1)
Of Human Bondage (1)
Life on the Mississippi (1)
Neverwhere (1)