Never did any soul do good, but it came readier to do the same again, with more enjoyment. Never was love, or gratitude, or bounty practised but with increasing joy, which made the practiser still more in love with the fair act.
—Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621–83) English Statesman
In goodness there are all kinds of wisdom.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
The first idea that the child must acquire, in order to be actively disciplined, is that of the difference between good and evil; and the task of the educator lies in seeing that the child does not confound good with immobility, and evil with activity.
—Maria Montessori (1870–1952) Italian Physician, Educator
Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Men should not try to overstrain their goodness more than any other faculty.
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902) British Victorian Novelist, Essayist, Critic
There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
We win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Real goodness does not attach itself merely to this life—it points to another world. Political or professional reputation cannot last forever, but a conscience void of offence before God and man is an inheritance for eternity.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
If you pursue good with labor, the labor passes away but the good remains; if you pursue evil with pleasure, the pleasure passes away and the evil remains.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention.
—Unknown
A good man is influenced by God himself, and has a kind of divinity within him; so it may be a question whether he goes to heaven, or heaven comes to him.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.
—Tryon Edwards (1809–94) American Theologian, Author
Inability to tell good from evil is the greatest worry of man’s life.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and pure and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
Good and bad men are less than they seem.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Inventor
Nature will not forgive those who fail to fulfill the law of their being. The law of human beings is wisdom and goodness, not unlimited acquisition.
—Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899–1977) American Educational Philosopher
True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.
—Milan Kundera (1929–2023) Czech-French Writer, Literary Philosopher
The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
All the fame which ever cheated humanity into higher notions of its own importance would never weigh in my mind against the pure and pious interest which a virtuous being may be pleased to take in my welfare.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
The forgiving state of mind is a magnetic power for attracting good.
—Catherine Ponder (b.1927) American Clergywoman
That best portion of a good man’s life; His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850) English Poet
Only happy people can learn. Only happy people can teach. Our religion should put a sparkle in our eyes and a tone in our voice, and a spring in our step that bears witness of our faith and confidence in the goodness of God.
—Unknown
Our deeds still travel with us from afar, and what we have been makes us what we are.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.
—Buddhist Teaching
The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
He is good that does good to others. If he suffers for the good he does, he is better still; and if he suffers from them to whom he did good, he has arrived to that height of goodness that nothing but an increase of his sufferings can add to it; if it proves his death, his virtue is at its summit; it is heroism complete.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
He that does good to another, does good also to himself, not only in the consequences, but in the very act; for the consciousness of well doing is, in itself, ample reward.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
No longer talk at all about the kind of man a good man ought to be, but be such.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
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