Some thinkers hold that it is by nature that people become good, others that it is by habit, and others that it is by instruction. Just as a piece of land has to be prepared beforehand if it is to nourish the seed, so the mind of the pupil has to be prepared in its habits if it is to enjoy and dislike the right things.
goodquotes
The good of the individual by himself is certainly desirable enough, but that of a nation and of cities is nobler and more divine.
desirable / good / individual
The Good of Man comes to be a working of the Soul in the way of Excellence, or, if Excellence admits of degrees, in the way of the best and most perfect Excellence.
excellence / good / soul
Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason is the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim.
I have found little that is “good” about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all.
Russell observes that “the merits of democracy are negative: it does not ensure good government, but it prevents certain evils,” such as the evil of a small group of individuals achieving a secure monopoly on political power. The chief peril for the politician, Russell insists, is love of power. And politicians can easily yield to the love of power on the pretense that they are pursuing some absolute good.
Philosophy which does not seek to impose upon the world its own conceptions of good and evil is not only more likely to achieve truth, but is also the outcome of a higher ethical standpoint than one which, like evolutionism and most traditional systems, is perpetually appraising the universe and seeking to find in it an embodiment of present ideals.
Evil / good / ideals / philosophy / truth
Good and evil have no meaning any longer except failure and success.
There is an old illusion. It is called good and evil.
That which is done out of love is always beyond good and evil.