Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Colum McCann

Quote by Colum McCann

“Even if people laughed at the notion of goodness, if they found it sentimental, or nostalgic, it didn't matter -- it was non ov those things, he said, and it had to be fought for.”

Quote by Colum McCann

Book:Let The Great World Spin
Create image

Work

Let The Great World Spin

In this novel, the author weaves together the lives of various New Yorkers whose paths intersect on the day a high-wire artist performs an extraordinary feat. The story delves into the complexities of human connection and the resilience of the human spirit amidst the backdrop of a bustling city. more

Author

Colum McCann
Colum McCann

Colum McCann is an Irish writer known for his profound character development and rich narrative techniques. His works often explore the relationship between individuals and society, as well as deep insights into history and culture. Born on February 28, 1965, McCann's writing career began in the 1990s, and he has published numerous novels and short story collections. more

You May Also Like

“Goodness preaches constantly, wants to change humanity, to work miracles from one day to the next, makes a show of its substance, wants to question essentials, but in fact is most often just hollow, lacking in substance, essence itself. A good word which has not yet been put into practice holds within itself every virgin possibility and is more than a good deed, the outcome of which is dubious, its effect arguable. In general words are always more than deeds.”

Goodness
Author:Deszo Koszstolanyi
Create image

“You can dam and direct the water, and you can force it to remain on the top of a mountain without flowing down. But is this what water's nature really is? It is what you have done to it that makes it so. Humans can also be made to be not good in the same way. " - Mencius”

LifeGoodnessThe PathMenciusChines PhilosophyGoodness Of Humankind
Book:The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life
Create image

“..But for anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it. .. There must be love for the gift itself, love for the subject being depicted or the story being told, and love for the audience. Whether the art is sculpture, farming, teaching, lawmaking, medicine, music, or raising a child, if love is not in it - at the very heart of it - it might be skillful, marketable, or popular but I doubt it is truly good. Nothing is what it is supposed to be if love is not at the core.”

LoveGoodness
Book:Theo of Golden
Create image

“Wanting to help was not enough. To rescue a Jew in these conditions, where no structure supported the effort and where the penalty was death, required something stronger than character, something greater than a worldview. Generous people took humane decisions, yet still failed. Probably most men and women of goodwill who were able to take the initial risk failed after a month, a week, a day. It was an era where to be good meant not only the avoidance of evil but a total determination to act on behalf of a stranger, on a planet where hell, not heaven, was the reward for goodness.”

GoodnessDeterminationHumanismHumaneHumane Treatment Of Others
Book:Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning
Create image