Basic Goodness Quotes & Sayings

I began to suspect that perhaps the problem lies not in God's goodness but in how we measure it. Laxmi and Kanakaraju and the women and children at the AIDS ministry, they prayed for basic things - food, shelter, health, peace - and they did not always receive. Yet I saw in their eyes the kind of joy and spiritual connectedness that most Christians I know long for. — Rachel Held Evans

I still believe in the nonviolent Jesus and the basic human goodness present in all of us. — Martin Sheen

Q: When emotions are transmuted, that doesn't mean they disappear, does it? A: Not necessarily, but they are transmuted into other forms of energy. If we are trying to be good or peaceful, trying to suppress or subdue our emotions, that is the basic twist of ego in operation. We are being aggressive toward our emotions, trying forcefully to achieve peace or goodness. Once we cease being aggressive toward our emotions, cease trying to change them, once we experience them properly, then transmutation may take place. The irritating quality of the emotions is transmuted once you experience them as they are. Transmutation does not mean that the energy quality of the emotions is eliminated; in fact it is transformed into wisdom, which is very much needed. — Chogyam Trungpa

The most basic and somehow forgettable thing is this: Love is not pain. Love is goodness. And real love
it's less shiny than solid and simple. — Deb Caletti

Hard times always uncover the basic goodness and evil of the day. — Zig Ziglar

A person needs a basic trust of life and humanity in order to allow all this to happen, to believe more in human goodness than he or she fears its evil. This person has to trust that most people are good people - and also trust that this isn't an axe-murderer. Trust in one's own intuition as well as humanity's character is also a must. Most of what is wrong with Earthfolks has to do with fear. — Doug "Ten" Rose

The world is a challenging place in terms of wars and peace, basic human rights and freedoms. The Holy Father has a major role to play in global affairs. The pope is more than a spiritual leader. For the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, he is an inspiration of holiness and goodness and, above all, the faithful proclamation of the Gospel. — Chris Smith

When we are using this term 'basic goodness,' we are talking about our inherent completeness. — Sakyong Mipham

It would be nice to feel that we are a better world, a world of more compassion and a world of more humanity, and to believe in the basic goodness of man. — Barbara Walters

There are people who believe in the basic goodness of human nature. I believe in the basic evil of human nature. ~ Aarush Kashyap — Kirtida Gautam

The first thing you have to do is acknowledge the basic and fundamental goodness of all beings. If you don't, then you are going to have conflict. That's at the core of Shambhala. — Sakyong Mipham

Do not doubt your own basic goodness. In spite of all confusion and fear, you are born with a heart that knows what is just, loving, and beautiful. — Jack Kornfield

This is the path we take in cultivating joy: learning not to armor our basic goodness, learning to appreciate what we have. Most of the time we don't do this. Rather than appreciate where we are, we continually struggle and nurture our dissatisfaction. It's like trying to get the flowers to grow by pouring cement on the garden. — Pema Chodron

Shambhala vision is universal. It has no bias towards one type of culture or group. It is not ethnocentric and does not encourage one specific kind of person, race, or religion. Shambhala vision promotes a universality in relationship to basic goodness. All human beings are basically good and an enlightened society, at various levels of manifestation, can occur in any culture. — Sakyong Mipham

All the variety of species of life created be,
By combination of three basic material energy;
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These Guna modus operandi of material energy,
They are called tamo, rajo and sattva clearly;
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Tamo-guna associated with inertia, ignorance be,
The rajo-guna associated with passion, activity;
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Sattva-guna associated with goodness, harmony,
And all three of them associated with thinking truly.
- 48 - — Munindra Misra

They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed. If the terrorists had hoped their attacks would reveal the weaknesses in western society, the events in Gander proved its strength. — Jim DeFede

Only basic goodness gives life to technique. To — Stephen R. Covey

Meditation is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have. — Pema Chodron

He knew he had trusted Wilf against the odds, but somehow he had also trusted that there was a basic goodness to be found in everyone, and that this time he could tap into it. — Rachel Joyce

There's a reason you can learn from everything: you have basic wisdom, basic intelligence, and basic goodness. — Pema Chodron

To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit.
To find that answer, we need only look within ourselves.
When we listen to the better angels of our nature, we find that they celebrate the simple things, the basic things
such as goodness, decency, love, kindness.
Greatness comes in simple trappings. — Richard M. Nixon

Ego could be defined as whatever covers up basic goodness. From an experiential point of view, what is ego covering up? It's covering up our experience of just being here, just fully being where we are, so that we can relate with the immediacy of our experience. Egolessness is a state of mind that has complete confidence in the sacredness of the world. It is unconditional well being, unconditional joy that includes all the different qualities of our experience. — Pema Chodron

our confidence is not in the solidity of Western culture or the basic goodness of modern democracy. Our confidence is in Jesus and him alone. — N. T. Wright

I believe in the basic goodness of my species, because that appears to be a positive tactic and quality that leads to better chances of survival- and in spite of our foolishness, we seem to have survived. — James Randi

I believe that each of us can make a difference. That what is wrong can be made right. That people possess the basic wisdom and goodness to govern themselves without conflict. — Hubert H. Humphrey

If the followers of the Oversoul are kept blind, if they can't judge the Oversoul's purpose for themselves, then they aren't freely choosing between good and evil, or between wise and foolish, but are only choosing to subsume themselves in the purposes of the Oversoul How can the Oversoul's plans be well-served, if all its followers are the kind of weak-souled people who are willing to obey the Oversoul without understanding?
I will serve you, Oversoul, with my whole heart I'll serve you, if I understand what you're trying to do, what it means. And if your purpose is a good one ... I will not be tamed, only persuaded. I will not be coerced or led blindly or tricked or bullied
I am willing only to be convinced. If you don't trust your own basic goodness enough to tell me what you're trying to do, Oversoul, then you're confessing your own moral weakness and I'll never serve you. — Orson Scott Card

They are inherently good
the bad reactions aren't basic. Every human being is a child of God and has more good in him than evil
but circumstances and associates can step up the bad and reduce the good. I've got great faith in the essential fairness and decency
you may say goodness
of the human being — Norman Vincent Peale

Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, but in character and goodness. People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings, but all of us are born with a basic goodness. — Anne Frank

buddha nature, or basic goodness. — Lodro Rinzler

The reason societies with democratic governments are better places to live in than their alternatives isn't because of some goodness intrinsic to democracy, but because its hopeless inefficiency helps blunt the basic potential for evil. — Nathan Myhrvold

The family remains the basic unit of society and the first school in which children learn the human, spiritual and moral values which enable them to be a beacon of goodness, integrity and justice in our communities. — Pope Francis

Remind yourself, in whatever way is personally meaningful, that it is not in your best interest to reinforce thoughts and feelings of unworthiness. Even if you've already taken the bait and feel the familiar pull of self-denigration, marshal your intelligence, courage, and humor in order to turn the tide. Ask yourself: Do I want to strengthen what I'm feeling now? Do I want to cut myself off from my basic goodness? Remind yourself that your fundamental nature is unconditionally open and free. — Pema Chodron

Shambhala teachings say we all have the potential to accomplish our enlightened nature - our basic goodness. — Sakyong Mipham

If I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other - while my character is fundamentally flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity - then, in the long run, I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do - even using so-called good human relations techniques - will be perceived as manipulative. It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are; if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success. Only basic goodness gives life to technique. — Stephen R. Covey

Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it. — Pablo Casals

Meditation practice is how we discover basic goodness and learn to cultivate bodhichitta. With this view, practice, and activity, even the most mundane situation becomes a vehicle for awakening. — Pema Chodron

Bodhichitta is our heart - our wounded, softened heart. Right down there in the thick of things, we discover the love that will not die. This love is bodhichitta. It is gentle and warm; it is clear and sharp; it is open and spacious. The awakened heart of bodhichitta is the basic goodness of all beings. — Pema Chodron