Talk:Goodness

Merge

I copied all the quotes from "Good" into "Goodness" and redirected it here. See Revision history of "Good" for attribution. See Talk:Good for prior discussion. -- OlEnglish 04:55, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

lame quote removed

A quote I removed with an explanation of "lame quote from a lame work" has been reinserted without stating the case for it,[1] so I have removed it again. I will elaborate on the reason for removal:

First, it should be noted that the quote already appears in the article for The Boondock Saints, for which the consensus of reviewers, according to Rotten Tomatoes, is "A juvenile, ugly movie that represents the worst tendencies of directors channeling Tarantino." This is why I refer to it as a "lame work".

The quote itself is a hackneyed and inelegant expression of an idea that has been said far more memorably by a variety of eloquent luminaries. This is why I refer to it as a "lame quote".

I have real reservations about including articles on this sort of film in Wikiquote, but I recognize there is a consensus for celebrating poop culture with little regard for quotability. I do not support polluting serious theme articles with childishness or hack writing. ~ Ningauble (talk) 18:02, 11 December 2012 (UTC)

Unsourced

• A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
  • Basil of Caesarea

• A good man is kinder to his enemy than bad men are to their friends.
  • Bishop Hall

• Every day should be distinguished by at least one particular act of love.
  • Johann Kaspar Lavater

• It is only great souls that know how much glory there is in being good.
  • Sophocles

• Most people are good. They may not be saints but they are good.
  • Jimmy Wales

Can one desire too much of a good thing?

It's attributed first to Cervantes, and then "As you like it" (then the author dropped). Shakespeare wrote so, so the second credit is valid. But is the first too? An English translation contained no exact phrase in the Chap.VI, not as the article stated. There are many websites which attribute this phrase to Cervantes, but I'm afraid we initiated. --Aphaia (talk) 16:15, 2 November 2015 (UTC)

There is a serious problem with many translations of Cervantes. In Don Quixote there are several conversations (particularly between Quixote and La Duchessa, but also throughout) in which characters toss proverbs back and forth. Many translators substituted completely different English proverbs instead of translating the Spanish ones into English.

A possible reason why translators did this is that part of the charm of their banter depends on the reader recognizing the proverbs as proverbs. English readers, who might not be familiar with Spanish proverbs, might not recognize them in translation as being proverbial sayings. Another explanation is that some translators tend to insert proverbs and witticisms where there were none in the original, just to enliven the text.

As a result, many proverbial sayings have become misattributed to Cervantes even though he never wrote anything remotely like them. ~ Ningauble (talk) 15:39, 3 November 2015 (UTC)