goodness

The goodness of the world grew like moss in cracks, she thought. It grew, somehow, with hidden roots, nourished by something unseen.

Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. It's smell and it's color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.

The_Lord_makes firm the steps of the one who delights_in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall,_for the_Lord_upholds_him with his hand.

Uncommon success is found on the spiritual plane; you can't get there through common convention or following others. Hard work is not enough; many work slavishly-hard for little reward. Intelligence is insufficient; how many educated and brilliant people there are who fail utterly and completely. Goodness is not enough; how many meek and good souls are tilled into the earth like manure by demigods to fertilize their golden crops. There is something more _ it is the unseen essential, and everyone has access to it.

If the only thing I did for the rest of my life was treat others kindly, file manila folders, and sit on the porch watching the grass grow it would be enough. It had to be. I did the math. The number of people who actually achieve a significant legacy is trifling compared to the vast number who go from birth to death living relatively unremarkable lives (at least on the surface). And maybe that wasn't the failure I'd been conditioned to believe. Maybe there was something to be said in praise of an outwardly unremarkable life. Maybe there were deep everyday forms of magic that had nothing to do with profound acomplishments or a Twitter feed that resonated down through the ages.

Happiness and goodness, according to canting moralists, stand in the relation of effect and cause. There was never anything less proved or less probable: our happiness is never in our own hands; we inherit our constitution; we stand buffet among friends and enemies; we may be so built as to feel a sneer or an aspersion with unusual keenness and so circumstanced as to be unusually exposed to them; we may have nerves very sensitive to pain, and be afflicted with a disease very painful. Virtue will not help us, and it is not meant to help us.

All your troubles, struggles, pains and suffering is worth one good thing.

When people are in need, you must be present. When people suffer, you must let them know you__e suffering with them._ __he good side of bad acts?_ I say. __ would not say that from horror comes goodness. That would be giving horror too much credit. But goodness prevails in spite of horror.

It's a shame there has to be a tragedy before the best in people will finally shine.

If there is any good in life, in history, in my own past, I invoke it now. I invoke it with all the passion with which I have lived.

And keep them thinking in terms of 'being good' as this is not an end so much as a means to something else __appiness, respect, self-esteem, etc_ And whatever their true end is, take it away, and so goes their goodness.

We are born, we grow up, we live our lives as best we can. If we are thoughtful we are good parents and good partners. If we are wise we strive for integrity and intimacy. If we are fortunate we discover love and joy. If we are able, we make the world a little better than we found it. That is all there is for any of us.

If you can't please yourself some of the time, how do you expect to please people all the time? Not everyone is going to appreciate you for your efforts and deeds.

Try not to be a man or woman of success, but rather a man or woman of inspiration. If you__e successful, they will flock to you for money or fame, but if you__e inspirational, they will flock to you because they love your soul and how you change theirs.

Don__ react to any fuming argument.

Be selfish and take good care of you first. When you are your best, you can best help others.

Any good is good enough.

Good poetry does not exist merely for the sake of itself, but rather, is a byproduct of yearning and growth; great poetry canonizes that yearning for the growth of others.