In a world that sometimes feels chaotic and overwhelming, a well-timed, inspiring quote can be a beacon of light. Whether it's a day that needs an extra push of motivation or a quiet moment that calls for reflection, thoughtfully chosen words have the power to uplift and transform our mindset. We've gathered a selection of the top 44 inspiring and thoughtful quotes to offer you moments of clarity, hope, and encouragement. These quotes span a variety of themes and sources, each with the potential to resonate and inspire in its own unique way. Whether you're seeking inspiration for personal growth or simply a wise thought to ponder, we invite you to explore this curated collection and discover the ones that speak most to you.
1. “Have I said anything I started out to say about being good? God, I don’t know. A stranger is shot in the street, you hardly move to help. But if half an hour before, you spent just ten minutes with the fellow and knew a little about him and his family, you might just jump in front of his killer and try to stop it. Really knowing is good. Not knowing, or refusing to know, is bad, or amoral, at least. You can’t act if you don’t know. Acting without knowing takes you right off the cliff.” - Ray Bradbury
2. “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
3. “People who claim that they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us... It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of.” - Gregory Maguire
4. “Who are you then?" "I am part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
5. “Human desire is the criterion of all truth and all good. Truth does not lie beyond humanity, but is one of the products of the human mind and feeling. There is really nothing to fear. The motive of fear in religion is base...” - D. H. Lawrence
6. “A smart model is a good model.” - Tyra Banks
7. “..the world seems full of good men--even if there are monsters in it.” - Bram Stoker
8. “In the world there exists no aesthetic plane, not even the aesthetic plane of goodness.” - Clarice Lispector
9. “Wait for that wisest of all counselores, Time.” - Pericles
10. “With or without God, good decisions can be made; But only with God will great decisions be made.” - Damon Thueson
11. “Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.” - Robert Bloch
12. “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.” - Aristotle
13. “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other's children.” - Jimmy Carter
14. “The worst memories stick with us, while the nice ones always seem to slip through our fingers.” - Rachel Vincent
15. “Briar: "They never tell you some things. They tell you mages have wonderful power and they learn all kinds of secrets. Nobody ever mentions that some secrets you don't ever want to learn." Rosethorn: "All you can do is learn good to balance the bad. Learn and do all the good within your reach. Then, if you wake in a sweat, you have something to set against the dream.” - Tamora Pierce
16. “Being reliable is something. Being good.” - Jonathan Safran Foer
17. “Most people are good and occasionally do something they know is bad. Some people are bad and struggle every day to keep it under control. Others are corrupt to the core and don’t give a damn, as long as they don’t get caught. But evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it’s good.” - Karen Marie Moning
18. “At that moment I remembered something Cal had told me: that there is beauty in darkness in everything. Sorrow in joy, life and death, thorns on the rose. I knew then that I could not escape pain and torment any more than I could give up joy and beauty” - Cate Tiernan
19. “You have to find what’s good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now. Looking back makes you competitive. And, age is not a competitive issue.” - Mitch Albom
20. “Men who give up the common goal of all things that exist, thereby cease to exist themselves. Some may perhaps think it strange that we say that wicked men, who form the majority of men, do not exist; but that is how it is. I am not trying to deny the wickedness of the wicked; what I do deny is that their existence is absolute and complete existence. Just as you might call a corpse a dead man, but couldn't simply call it a man, so I would agree that the wicked are wicked, but could not agree that they have unqualified existence.” - Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
21. “There is an old illusion. It is called good and evil.” - Friedrich Nietzsche
22. “Well, evil to some is always good to others.” - Jane Austen
23. “Lena wished that love were something you could flip on and off. You could turn it on when you felt good about yourself and worthy of it and generous enough to return it. You could flip it off when you needed to hide or self-destruct ad had nothing at all to give.” - Ann Brashares
24. “Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful” - Stephen King
25. “Rich and famous and doing good," mused Schlichtmann. "Rich isn't so difficult. Famous isn't so difficult. Rich and famous together aren't so difficult. Rich, famous, and doing good--now, that's very difficult.” - Jonathan Harr
26. “I have brought peace to this land, and security," he began."And what of your soul, when you use the cleverness of argument to cloak such acts? Do you think that the peace of a thousand cancels out the unjust death of one single person? It may be desirable, it may win you praise from those who have happily survived you and prospered from your deeds, but you have committed ignoble acts, and have been too proud to own them. I have waited patiently here, hoping that you would come to me, for if you understood, then some of your acts would be mitigated. But instead you send me this manuscript, proud, magisterial, and demonstrating only that you have understood nothing at all.""I returned to public life on your advice, madam," he said stiffly."Yes; I advised it. I said if learning must die it should do so with a friend by its bedside. Not an assassin.” - Iain Pears
27. “In the book, hummin bins made castles, and towers up to the sky. They tamed the animals and took care of them. And hummin bins helped each other. They were always good."When I was done, Ma asked, 'Delly, what are hummin bins?' 'They're like people, but better,' I said. Then I told her, 'When I grow up, I'm going to live with the hummin bins,' and she smiled."But Galveston grabbed the book, 'Let me see that,' she said, and started laughing. 'This says human beings. There's no such things as hummin bins.'"'Ma, is it true?' I asked, and she nodded. 'How come you didn't tell me?' I cried."'I liked the hummin bins better, too,' she said." ..."RB's right, Ferris Boyd. You are a hummin bin." Her eyeballs were wet, like they were swimming.It was quiet, then, till RB's soft cloud voice said, "You're a hummin bin, too, Delly.” - Katherine Hannigan
28. “Never underestimate the power of good but never ignore evil lurking in the hearts of men.Rose of Life” - Sonia Rumzi
29. “I always wanted to know what it is right. Maybe we know each other from time immemorial, if you know that in you is the eternal energy of goodness, which is most important for you.” - Gregor Golob
30. “A simple act of kindness the size of a rice grain can weigh as heavy as a mountain.” - Feroz Bham
31. “No doubt your sword is indeed a beautiful thing. It is a tribute to whoever forged it in bygone ages. There are very few such swords as this one left in the world, but remember, it is only a sword, Matthias! It contains no secret spell, nor holds within its blade any magical power. This sword is made for only one purpose, to kill. It will only be as good or evil as the one who wields it. I know that you intend to use it only for the good of your Abbey, Matthias; do so, but never allow yourself to be tempted into using it in a careless or idle way. It would inevitably cost you your life, or that of your dear ones. Martin the Warrior used the sword only for right and good. This is why it has become a symbol of power to Redwall. Knowledge is gained through wisdom, my friend. Use the sword wisely.” - Brian Jacques
32. “Do those people who hold up the Bible as an inspiration tomoral rectitude have the slightest notion of what is actually writtenin it?” - Richard Dawkins
33. “Once the soul has left the body it had to walk across a bridge as narrow as a knife edge, with paradise on the right and, on the left, a series of circles that lead down into the darkness inside the earth. Before crossing the bridge, each person had to place all his virtues in his right hand and all his sins in his left, and the imbalance between the two meant that the person always fell towards the side to which his actions on Earth had inclined him.” - Paulo Coelho
34. “You need to know it's your actions that will make you a good person, not desire.” - Matthew Quick
35. “There may be some truth (atheists) do not need to believe in a god to be good, but then if they do not believe in a god, who do they believe gives the Universal Law of following good and shunning evil? Obviously, mankind. But then that is a dangerous thing, for if a man does not believe in a god capable of giving perfect laws, he is in the position of declaring all laws come from man, and as man is imperfect, he can declare that as fallible men make imperfect laws, he can pick and choose what he wishes to follow, that which, in his own mind seems good. He does not believe in divine retribution, therefore he can also declare his own morality contrary to what the divine may decree simply because he believes there is no divine decree. He may follow his every whim and passion, declaring it to be good when it may be very evil, for he like all men is imperfect, so how can he tell what is verily good? The atheist is in danger of mistaking vice for good and consequently follow another slave master and tyrant, his own physical and mental weakness. Evil would be wittingly or unwittingly perpetrated, therefore, to recognise the existence of a perfect divine being that gives perfect Universal Laws is much better than not to believe in a god, for if there is a perfect god, they will not allow their laws to be broken with impunity as in the case with many corrupt judges on earth, but will punish accordingly in due time. Therefore, to be pious and reverent is the surest path to true freedom as a perfect god will give perfect laws to prevent all manner of slavery, tyranny and moral wantonness, even if we do not understand why they are good laws at times.” - E.A. Bucchianeri
36. “Despite everything, I believe people are really good at heart.” - Anne Frank
37. “Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good.” - C. S. Lewis
38. “There is evil in all of us, and it is the mark of a man how he defies the evil within.” - David Gemmell
39. “Ubi boni, malum prosperat (Where good men are silent, evil prospers)” - F. Sionil José
40. “I want something good to die for. . . to make it beautiful to live.” - Stacey T. Hunt
41. “I do look for the good in everyone. I also give them a chance to be their best, and I try to cope with my disappointment when they're not” - Laura Taylor
42. “Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.” - Democritus
43. “Good soul easily sleeps well.” - Toba Beta
44. “Life is good. Even when it isn't. Because there's always HOPE beckoning you from ahead.” - Anusha Atukorala
