Goodness

Lo, one who loved true honor more than fame,
A real goodness, not a studied name.
~ Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Doomsday (1614). The Eighth Hour

What thing so good which not some harm may bring?
Even to be happy is a dangerous thing.
~ Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, The Tragedie of Darius (1603).

Who has good deeds brought well to end,
For him the gloomy forests shine;
The whole world is to him a friend,
And all the earth a diamond mine.
~ William Rounseville (W.R.) Alger, from The Poetry of the East (1856). Metrical Specimens ... The Good Man's Reward

If we get good, we shall be good: if we be good, we shall do good.
~ William Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth: Illustrations of the Book of Proverbs (1857). XLIX. The Well of Life

I want to see with my own eyes the results of my good intentions.
~ William Black, in Time Magazine (January 1960). Joy in Giving

In vain may it be urged, that the good of the individual ought to yield to that of the community; for it would be dangerous to allow any private man, or even any public tribunal, to be the judge of this common good, and to decide whether it be expedient or no.
~ William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69). Book I, Chapter I: Of the Absolute Rights of Individuals

[T]he public good is in nothing more essentially interested, than in the protection of every individual's private rights.
~ William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69). Book I, Chapter I: Of the Absolute Rights of Individuals

He who would do good to another, must do it in Minute Particulars.
General Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer.
~ William Blake, from Jerusalem (1804).

He who would see the Divinity must see him in his Children.
~ William Blake, from Jerusalem (1804).

I have been trying all my life to stretch out my arms so as to reach with one hand the poor, and at the same time to keep the other in touch with the rich. But my arms are not long enough.
~ William Booth, in Life of William Booth: The Founder of the Salvation Army, Volume 1 (1920). Chapter XXII

I feel so good, baby,
I feel like ballin' the jack.
~ William Lee Conley ("Big Bill") Broonzy, I Feel So God (Song, 1941).

We've got folks,
black and brown
We've got everything,
will you stick around?
~ William Lee Conley ("Big Bill") Broonzy, Good Time Tonight (Song, 1938).

Bingo, that's a goodie!
~ Paul William "Bear" Bryant, I Ain't Never Been Nothing but a Winner: Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's 323 Greatest Quotes About Success, On and Off the Football Field (March 2000).

[T]hank goodness for atoms.
~ Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003). Introduction

The prayers of all good people are good.
~ Willa Sibert Cather, My Ántonia (1918). Book I. The Shimerdas

What a sublime doctrine it is, that goodness cherished now is eternal life already entered on!
~ William Ellery Channing (D.D.), in The Perfect Life: In Twelve Discourses (1873). V. Trust in the Living God

Never esteem men on account of their riches or their station. Respect goodness, find it where you may.
~ William Cobbett, Advice to Young Men: And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life (1829). Letter VI: To A Citizen

Be good, and leave the rest to Heaven.
~ William Combe, The Tour of Doctor Syntax, in Search of the Picturesque (1812). Canto 7

Men are apt to offend ('tis true) where they find most goodness to forgive.
~ William Congreve, The Old Bachelor (1693). Act IV, scene xi

The good receiv'd, the giver is forgot.
~ William Congreve, from Poems Upon Several Occasions (1710). Epistle to the Right Honourable Charles Lord Halifax, etc.

[I]t is easier to think well then, to do well.
~ William Cornwallis, from Essays by Sir William Cronwallyes (1610; enlarged edition). Of Essaies and Bookes

Doing good, disinterested good, is not our trade.
~ William Cowper, The Task (1785). Book I. The Sofa

Has time worn out, or fashion put to shame
Good sense, good health, good conscience, and good fame?
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). The Progress of Error

That good diffused may more abundant grow.
~ William Cowper, from Poems by William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq. (1782). Conversation

It's easy to see the faults in people I know; and it's harder to see the good. Especially when the good isn't there.
~ Will (William Jacob) Cuppy, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody (1950).

There are no good feelings but what will verge towards the highest and the best.
~ William Danby, Ideas and Realities, or Thoughts on Various Subjects (1827).

Light and darkness can not exist together; neither can good works issue from a depraved heart.
~ William Scott Downey, Proverbs, by Rev. William Scott Downey (1851 edition).

A humanist, as I understand the term, says, "This world is good enough for me, if only I can be good enough for it."
~ William Empson, Milton's God (1961).

I reckon that being good is about the easiest thing in the world for a lazy man.
~ William Faulkner, Light in August (1932).

Give me good health and the strength to be of real service to the world, and I'll get all that's good for me, and will what's left to those who want it.
~ William Feather

None of us can buy goodwill; we must earn it.
~ William Feather

Something that has always puzzled me all my life is why, when I am in special need of help, the good deed is usually done by somebody on whom I have no claim.
~ William Feather, The Business of Life (1949).

Come by my place, I'll let you ride piggyback on my buzz-saw.
~ W.C. Fields (said to to Charlie McCarthy)

What's good for Ford Motor Co. is good for the Ford family. ... This has been part of my life since the day I was born.
~ William Clay Ford, Jr., The Associated Press (30 October 2002). Biographical Notes on Bill Ford Jr.

And in the sunrise standing,
Our kindling hearts confess
That no good thing is failure,
No evil thing success!
~ William Channing Gannett, in Moody and Sankey Gospel Hymns (1875). The Crowning Day

We believe that we ought to join hands and work to make the good things better and the worst good, counting nothing good for self that is not good for all.
~ William Channing Gannett, Proposed at the Western Unitarian Conference (1887). Things Commonly Believed Among Us

I love my fellow creatures -- I do all the good I can --
Yet everybody says I'm such a disagreeable man!
~ William Schwenck (W.S.) Gilbert, from Songs of a Savoyard (1890). The Disagreeable Man

What we are bound to do is this: to take care, that everything we produce shall, in its kind and class, be good as we can make it.
~ William Ewart Gladstone, Address Delivered At Burslem, Staffordshire UK (26 October 1863).

If a thing be really good, it can be shown to be such.
~ William Godwin, The Enquirer: Reflections on Education, Manners and Literature in a Series of Essays (1797). Part I. Essay IX: Of the Communication of Knowledge

The good man is a man of clear apprehension, and calculates exactly what he ought to think, and what he ought to do. He is self-balanced, and scarcely anything can break in upon the serenity of his soul, and the clearness of his mental vision. He is full of courage and hope, and goes on his way rejoicing.
~ William Godwin, in Essays by the late William Godwin, Never Before Published (1873). Essay III. On Contrition

May the Lord bless you real good.
~ Billy Graham

He who is good is happy.
~ William Habington, Castara, 2nd edn. (1635). The First Part. To the Honourable my most honoured friend, Wm. E. Esquire

A good thing cannot be too often spoken.
~ William Haughton, Englishmen for My Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will (1598). Act V, scene iii

Good-nature is humanity that costs nothing.
~ William Hazlitt, from The Round Table, Vol. II (1817). On Good-Nature

[O]nly the man who has enough good in him to feel the justice of the penalty can be punished; the others can only be hurt.
~ William Ernest (W.E.) Hocking, from The Coming World Civilization (1956).

Hell is paved with good samaritans.
~ William Holden (William Franklin Beedle, Jr.)

The lower stone can do no good without the hyer.
~ William Horman, (1519).

The nobility of our nature results in doing good for the good's sake.
~ Wilhelm von Humboldt, in Thoughts and Opinions of a Statesman (1849). Letter LXI

If thou desire to live in quiet rest,
Give ear and see, but say the best.
~ William Hunnis, published in The Paradise of Dainty Devices (1576).

There's many a good thing lost by not asking for it.
~ (Col.) William C. Hunter, Brass Tacks (1910).

A moral question is a question not of what sensibly exists, but of what is good, or would be good if it did exist.
~ William James, An Address to the Philosophical Clubs of Yale and Brown Universities (published in the New World; June 1896). The Will to Believe

All natural goods perish. Riches take wings; fame is a breath; love is a cheat; youth and health and pleasure vanish. Can things whose end is always dust and disappointment be the real goods which our souls require?
~ William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). Lectures VI and VII: The Sick Soul

The world is not yet with them, so they often seem in the midst of the world's affairs to be preposterous. Yet they are impregnators of the world, vivifiers and animators of potentialities of goodness which but for them would lie forever dormant.
~ William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902). Lectures XIV and XV: The Value of Saintliness

There is but one unconditional commandment, which is that we should seek incessantly, with fear and trembling, so to vote and to act as to bring about the very largest total universe of good which we can see.
~ William James, An address to the Yale Philosophical Club (first published in the International Journal of Ethics; April 1891). The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life

Truth is one species of good, and not, as is usually supposed, a category distinct from good, and co-ordinate with it.
~ William James, from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907). Lecture II. What Pragmatism Means

We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort.
~ William James, Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (March 1899). VIII. The Laws of Habit

No good act performed in the world ever dies. Science tells us that no atom of matter can ever be destroyed, that no force once started ever ends; it merely passes through a multiplicity of ever-changing phases. Every good deed done to others is a great force that starts an unending pulsation through time and eternity. We may not know it, we may never hear a word of gratitude or recognition, but it will all come back to us in some form as naturally, as perfectly, as inevitably, as echo answers to sound.
~ William George Jordan, The Power of Truth: Individual Problems and Possibilities (1902). The Courage to Face Ingratitude

If you desire to labor for the good of the world, it will be unwise for you to strive to include it all at once in your efforts. If you can help elevate or teach but one soul -- that is a good beginning, and more than is given to many.
~ William Q. Judge, The Path (August 1886). Musings On The True Theosophist's Path

Dey tal me ay ban a gude faller.
Ay guess dey ban right; but, yee whiz!
Ef yu ever ban a gude faller,
Yu know 'bout how costly it is.
~ William F. Kirk, The Norsk Nightingale (1905). A Good Fellow

Most of us actually stifle enough good impulses during the course of a day to change the current of our lives.
~ William Moulton Marston, CBS Radio Network Broadcast (18 March 1941). Obey That Impulse

I forgot who it was that recommended men for their soul's good to do each day two things they disliked; it was a wise man, and it is a precept that I have followed scrupulously, for every day I have got up and I have gone to bed.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence (1919). Chapter II

There is nothing more beautiful than goodness, and it has pleased me very often to show how much of it there is in persons who by common standards would be relentlessly condemned. I have shown it because I have seen it.
~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Summing Up (1938).

Keep things around you a-hummin'.
~ Will M. Maupin, from Whether Common or Not (1903). General Verses. Purty Good World

You can get very little good out of life until you put some in it.
~ Will M. Maupin, from Whether Common or Not (1903). Prose Selections. Brain Leaks

But someone once described the contrast between a good life and a godly life as the difference between the top of the ocean and the bottom. On top, sometimes it's like glass -- serene and calm -- and other times it's raging and stormy. But hundreds of fathoms below, it is beautiful and consistent, always calm, always peaceful.
~ Bill McCartney, From Ashes To Glory (1990). Good Life -- Godly Life

I never saw a mob rush across town to do a good deed.
~ Wilson Mizner

No tale I tell
Of ill or well,
But this I say,
Night treadeth on day,
And for worst and best
Right good is rest.
~ William Morris, For the Bed at Kelmscott (1891).

For every good deed of ours, the world will be the better always.
~ William Mountford, Euthanasy: Or, Happy Talk Towards the End of Life (1848). Chapter XVII

All good things were at one time bad things; every original sin has developed into an original virtue.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Many people wait throughout their whole lives for the chance to be good in their own fashion.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

The good generally displeases us when it is beyond our ken.
~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human. First Sequel: Mixed Opinions and Maxims (March 1879).

World, is there one good thing in you --
Life, love, or death -- or what?
~ Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy, from Lays of France. Founded on the lays of Marie (1872). The Lay of Eludic

Credit to the fullest the good qualities to be found in others, even though they may far outshine your own.
~ William M. Peck

The good that we take with us at the last call is the good that we do while here.
~ William M. Peck

A good End cannot sanctify evil Means; nor must we ever do Evil, that Good may come of it.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Religion

Do Good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Temporal Happiness

He that does good for good's sake seeks neither praise nor reward, though sure of both at last.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. Ostentation

We have a Call to do good, as often as we have the Power and Occasion.
~ William Penn, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693). Part I. A Party

Oftentimes good wishes are the best, the only proof we can give of our good-will. Only let us see to it that they be sincere.
~ William S. Plumer, Vital Godliness: A Treatise on Experimental and Practical Piety (1864). Chapter XVII. Love to Our Neighbor

Really good wishes are good things, and should be expressed in words and deeds.
~ William S. Plumer

No one is good for everything; every one is good for something.
~ William Henry Porter, Proverbs, Arranged in Alphabetical Order (1845). Part One. Common Proverbs Explained

For what life is so highly deserving of reward as that which is spent in doing good without the hope or desire of reward?
~ W. (William) Winwood Reade, First published in the Thinkers Library (1933). The Outcast, Letter XIV

This day I welcome to my heart all good thoughts, and will that they should prompt and guide all my action.
~ William Mackintire (W.M.) Salter, Ethical Religion (1889). IX. Personal Morality

Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know.
~ William Saroyan, My Heart's in the Highlands (1939 play).

It is better to be a good human being than to be a bad one. It is just naturally better.
~ William Saroyan, My Heart's in the Highlands (1939 play).

No one is competing with anyone else. No one hates anyone else. Every man is living, and letting live.
~ William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life (1939 play).

Nothing good ever ends.
~ William Saroyan, The Human Comedy (1943).

Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.
~ William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life (1939 play). Preface

Yes, the idiot is indeed the good man, but only because he doesn't know any better.
~ William Saroyan, Sons Come and Go, Mothers Hang in Forever (1976).

Worse and worse! you're over good,
I always like to stop half way!
~ William Bell Scott, from A Poet's Harvest Home (1882). Help

You may toil with brain and sinew,
And though little wealth it win you,
If there's health and hope within you --
You've made good.
~ Robert William Service, Making Good

A good heart's worth gold.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part II. Act II, scene iv

[A] good heart ... is the sun and the
moon; or, rather, the sun, and not the moon; for it
shines bright and never changes, but keeps his
course truly.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry V. Act V, scene ii

All goodness
Is poison to thy stomach.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII. Act III, scene ii

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
~ William Shakespeare, As You Like It. Act II, scene i

Defend your reputation, or bid farewell to your good life for ever.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor. Act III, scene iii

For goodness sake, consider what you do.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII. Act III, scene i

I think good thoughts, whilst others write good words.
~ William Shakespeare, Sonnet 85

If one good deed in all my life I did,
I do repent it from my very soul.
~ William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. Act V, scene iii

It is not, nor it cannot come to good;
But break my heart,?for I must hold my tongue.
~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet. Act I, scene ii

Join we together for the public good,
In what we can.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, Part II. Act I, scene i

Let fools do good, and fair men call for grace.
~ William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus. Act III, scene i

One good deed, dying tongueless,
Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that.
~ William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale. Act I, scene ii

That light we see is burning in my hall. How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice. Act V, scene i

The good I stand on is my truth and honesty.
~ William Shakespeare, King Henry VIII. Act V, scene i

There's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.
If the ill spirit have so fair a house,
Good things will strive to dwell with 't.
~ William Shakespeare, The Tempest. Act I, scene ii

I must do good as well as be good; and I must labor to have those around me enjoy the same spiritual blessings that I do.
~ William Simonds (Walter Aimwell), in Jerry; or, The Sailor Boy Ashore (1863).

Give good thoughts (nature's character builder)-- you will be good and the world will have good thoughts for you.
~ William (W.) Clement Stone, in Success Unlimited magazine (August 1964). Be Generous!

As much as we believe that the Globe has been good for the city, we also know how good the city has been for the Globe.
~ William O. Taylor (on the 125th anniversary of The Boston Globe; 1997).

Good intentions are, at least, the seed of good actions; and every man ought to sow them, and leave it to the soil and the seasons whether they come up or no, and whether he, or any other gathers the fruit.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, in Miscellanea, the Third Part (1701). II. An Essay Upon Health and Long Life

Good nature is seen in a disposition to say and do, what one thinks will please or profit others.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, in The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart., Vol. I (1720). Miscellanea, Part III. Heads, Designed for an Essay on Conversation

No possessions good, but by the good use we make of them; without which, wealth, power, friends, servants, do but help to make our lives more unhappy.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, in The Works of Sir William Temple, Bart., Vol. I (1720). Miscellanea, Part III. Heads, Designed For An Essay Upon The Different Conditions Of Life And Fortune

[T]he pretence of public good, is a cheat that will ever pass in the world, though so often abused by ill men, that I wonder the good do not grow ashamed to use it any longer.
~ Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, from Miscellanea, Part I (1680). An Essay Upon the Cure of the Gout by Moxa (18 June 1677)

Every one knows what harm the bad may do, but who knows the mischief done by the good?
~ William Makepeace Thackeray

If fun is good, truth is still better, and love best of all.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, in Punch (1846). The Snobs of England. Chapter XLV

The world deals good-naturedly with good-natured people.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Henry Esmond (1852). Book I. Chapter X. I Go to Cambridge, and Do But Little Good There

It belongs to the man who is in quest of his supreme good to draw as near to divine things as his condition of life will allow.
~ W. (William) Bernard Ullathorne, The Groundwork of the Christian Virtues (1882). Lecture II. On the Nature of Christian Virtue

A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.
~ Vincent Willem van Gogh, in The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh, vol. 3 (1958). Letter of 1890

[H]awk at last shall be outsoar'd by dove,
And throats of thunder quell'd by lips of love.
~ William Watson, from Epigrams of Art, Life and Nature (1884). LXV. A Sometime Contemporary

Critics grow mild, life's witty warfare cease,
And true good-nature breathe the balm of peace.
~ William Whitehead, from Poems on Several Occasions (1754). On Ridicule (1743)

The good begun by thee shall onward flow
In many a branching stream, and wider grow.
~ Carlos Wilcox, in Remains of the Rev. Carlos Wilcox (1828). The Religion of Taste. CVII

The spark divine dwells in thee: let it grow.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from Poems of Passion (1883). Miscellanious Poems. Resolve

Who is the good? Not he who walks each day
With moral men along the high, clean way;
But he who jostles gilded sin and shame,
Yet will not sell his honour or his name.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox, from New Thought Pastels (1906). Strength

No good deed goes unpunished.
~ Billy Wilder

I always felt that I was as good as the next person, and I didn't care what they had.
~ Lenny Wilkens

If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.
~ Bud Wilkinson

I still think I'm not as good as anybody else.
~ Andy Williams

I swear to God, it's an incredible force for good if you can remember that nonviolence is the weapon of the strong.
~ Betty Williams, PeaceJam Foundation (4 July 1995). An Interview with Betty Williams

[I]t is as pleasant as unusual to see thoroughly good people getting their deserts.
~ Charles (Walter Stansby) Williams, James I (1934).

It is our earnest hope for mankind that while we gain the moon, we shall not lose the world.
~ Dr. Eric Eustace Williams, Apollo 11 Goodwill Message (July 1969).

In some kinds of people some tenderer feelings have had some little beginning! That we have got to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag!
~ Thomas Lanier ("Tennessee") Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (1947).

[T]he temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best.
~ Bill Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes Of Age (1957).

A very small page will serve for the number of our good works, when vast volumes will not contain our evil deeds.
~ (Bishop) Thomas Wilson, in The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Thomas Wilson, D.D., Volume V. (1860). Supplement to Sacra Privata

Some there are,
By their good works exalted, lofty minds
And meditative, authors of delight
And happiness, which to the end of time
Will live, and spread, and kindle.
~ William Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads with Other Poems, Vol. 2 (1800). The Old Cumberland Beggar

That best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered, acts
Of kindness and of love.
~ William Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads (1798). Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey

'Tis Nature's law
That none, the meanest of created things,
Of forms created the most vile and brute,
The dullest or most noxious, should exist
Divorced from good.
~ William Wordsworth, from Lyrical Ballads with Other Poems, Vol. 2 (1800). The Old Cumberland Beggar

I tell you, 'tis as hard to be a good fellow, a good friend, and a lover of women, as 'tis to be a good fellow, a good friend, and a lover of money.
~ William Wycherley, The Country Wife (1673). Act I, scene i

For the good are always the merry,
Save by an evil chance,
And the merry love the fiddle
And the merry love to dance.
~ William Butler Yeats, from The Wind Among the Reeds (1899). The Fiddler of Dooney