Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-born British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
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
In dreams the truth is learned that all good works are done in the absence of a caress.
—Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Novelist
We ought to do good to others as simply and naturally as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Good is a product of the ethical and spiritual artistry of individuals; it cannot be mass-produced.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression.
—Dodie Smith (1896–1990) British Novelist, Playwright, Writer
When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.
—George Washington Carver (1864–1943) American Scientist, Botanist, Educator, Inventor
Walking on water wasn’t built in a day.
—Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) American Novelist, Poet
A good man doubles the length of his existence; to have lived so as to look back with pleasure on our past life is to live twice.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
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
Ambition and love are the wings to great deeds.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.
—James Russell Lowell (1819–91) American Poet, Critic
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
—John Wesley (1703–91) British Methodist Religious Leader, Preacher, Theologian
Reason teaches us that what is good is good for something, and that what is good for nothing is not good at all.
—F. H. Bradley (1846–1924) British Philosopher
I’ve never forgotten for long at a time that living is struggle. I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for — whether it’s a field, or a home, or a country.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
—Desmond Tutu (b.1931) South African Clergyman
True human goodness, in all its purity and freedom, can come to the fore only when its recipient has no power.
—Milan Kundera (b.1929) Czech Novelist
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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
Beauty endures only for as long as it can be seen; goodness, beautiful today, will remain so tomorrow.
—Sappho (c.630–c.580 BCE) Greek Poet
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept better… while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.
—Woody Allen (b.1935) American Film Actor, Director
A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly.
—Emily Bronte (1818–48) English Novelist, Poet
And finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside, and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and could be, if there weren’t any other people living in the world.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
It may be necessary temporarily to accept a lesser evil, but one must never label a necessary evil as good.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
What is the real relation between happiness and goodness? It is only within a few generations that men have found courage to say that there is none.
—William Graham Sumner (1840–1910) American Polymath, Academic, Historian, Sociologist, Anthropologist
Always do right. This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
An action is essentially good if the motive of the agent be good, regardless of the consequences.
—Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Prussian German Philosopher, Logician
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim
The soul is strong that trusts in goodness.
—Philip Massinger (1583–1640) English Dramatist
Have as much good nature as good sense since they generally are companions.
—William Wycherley (1640–1715) English Dramatist
The best way to keep good acts in memory is to refresh them with new.
—Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato) (234–149 BCE) Roman Statesman
Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of goodwill. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy, and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet