--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a royal privilege to do good and be…" description: "\"It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of.\" — Antisthenes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png" --- # It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of. ![“It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of.” quote by Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png) > “It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of.” [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Doing good is a right of the powerful, even if it invites criticism. **In simple terms:** Power can act kindly despite gossip. Key Takeaway Use influence for good, ignore slander. Themes ethics power reputation Mood reflective determined Type maxim ethical When to use this quote - leadership - public service - political decision - social activism Key Concepts Stoicism civic duty Questions to Reflect On - How will you act when praised or condemned? - Can you separate intent from public opinion? A Different Perspective Good deeds may still attract negative talk. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Privilege](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privilege/) ## Related quotes > [I had a unique privilege to have a good start in life and a chance to develop my talents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/novak-djokovic/i-had-a-unique-privilege-to-have-a-good-start-in-life-and-a-chance-to/) [Novak Djokovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/novak-djokovic/) > [The responsibilities which are imposed by rank and privilege and good fortune can... become very onerous indeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-responsibilities-which-are-imposed-by-rank-and-privilege-and-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-dix/every-evil-has-its-good-and-every-ill-an-antidote/) [Dorothea Dix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-dix/) > [Ambition! powerful source of good and ill!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/ambition-powerful-source-of-good-and-ill/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [T is the will that makes the action good or ill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-herrick/t-is-the-will-that-makes-the-action-good-or-ill/) [Robert Herrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-herrick/) > [“No matter what passes, for good or ill, it is always better to know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-o-dell/no-matter-what-passes-for-good-or-ill-it-is-always-better-to-know/) [Kathleen O'Dell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-o-dell/) > [“Often ill comes from the good, as good from ill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/often-ill-comes-from-the-good-as-good-from-ill/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Because sometimes longshots came in. Both for good and for ill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/because-sometimes-longshots-came-in-both-for-good-and-for-ill/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-future-good-or-ill-was-not-forgotten-but-ceased-to-have-any-power-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I may not be good for someone but Ill be the best for those who deserve me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dev/i-may-not-be-good-for-someone-but-ill-be-the-best-for-those-who/) [Dev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dev/) > [The good or ill hap of a good or ill life, is the good or ill choice of a good or ill wife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-good-or-ill-hap-of-a-good-or-ill-life-is-the-good-or-ill-choice/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [One must repay good and ill; but why just to the person who did us good or ill?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-must-repay-good-and-ill-but-why-just-to-the-person-who-did-us/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I will follow my instincts, and be myself for good or ill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/i-will-follow-my-instincts-and-be-myself-for-good-or-ill/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“The people we are most fond of are not good for us when we are ill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-people-we-are-most-fond-of-are-not-good-for-us-when-we-are-ill/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [The good or ill of a man lies within his own will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/the-good-or-ill-of-a-man-lies-within-his-own-will/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) ## More by Antisthenes > [Wealth and poverty do not lie in a man's estate, but in men's souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/wealth-and-poverty-do-not-lie-in-a-man-s-estate-but-in-men-s-souls/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [I'd rather be mad than feel pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/i-d-rather-be-mad-than-feel-pleasure/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/there-are-only-two-people-who-can-tell-you-the-truth-about-yourself/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [The investigation of the meaning of words is the beginning of education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/the-investigation-of-the-meaning-of-words-is-the-beginning-of/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [“Virtue . . . is the same for men and for women.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/virtue-is-the-same-for-men-and-for-women/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [The advantages of philosophy? That I am able to hold converse with myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/the-advantages-of-philosophy-that-i-am-able-to-hold-converse-with/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [It is better to fall in with crows than with flatterers; for in the one case you are devoured when dead, in the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/it-is-better-to-fall-in-with-crows-than-with-flatterers-for-in-the/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/as-iron-is-eaten-away-by-rust-so-the-envious-are-consumed-by-their/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [I am sadly afraid that I must have done some wicked thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/i-am-sadly-afraid-that-i-must-have-done-some-wicked-thing/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [As rust corrupts iron, so envy corrupts man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/as-rust-corrupts-iron-so-envy-corrupts-man/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [States are doomed when they are unable to distinguish good men from bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/states-are-doomed-when-they-are-unable-to-distinguish-good-men-from/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [Royalty does good and is badly spoken of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/royalty-does-good-and-is-badly-spoken-of/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/observe-your-enemies-for-they-first-find-out-your-faults/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [We weed out the darnel from the corn and the unfit in war, but do not excuse evil men from the service of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/we-weed-out-the-darnel-from-the-corn-and-the-unfit-in-war-but-do-not/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) > [The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/the-most-useful-piece-of-learning-for-the-uses-of-life-is-to-unlearn/) [Antisthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) [Explore all 23 Antisthenes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/) ## More Ill quotes > [In our society we have hard nerds and soft nerds. 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It is quite another to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-silberman/in-any-event-it-is-one-thing-to-assert-then-or-now-that-the-iraq-war/) [Laurence Silberman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-silberman/) > [How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/how-oft-the-sight-of-means-to-do-ill-deeds-makes-ill-deeds-done/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Ill-fitting grammar are like ill-fitting shoes. You can get used to it for a bit, but then one day your toes fall off and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/ill-fitting-grammar-are-like-ill-fitting-shoes-you-can-get-used-to-it/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [Do you think that was kind? Do you think it was godlike? 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You can't point a finger at them and say they're ill or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-klum/some-people-are-born-skinny-and-that-s-just-the-way-it-is-you-can-t/) [Heidi Klum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-klum/) > [Need to go to the pharmacy, because I'm so sick!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tasha-matthews/need-to-go-to-the-pharmacy-because-i-m-so-sick/) Tasha Matthews > [Dead kids are put on pedestals, but mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/dead-kids-are-put-on-pedestals-but-mentally-ill-kids-get-hidden-under/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [To think profoundly, to seek and speak truth, to love justice and denounce wrong is to draw upon one's self the ill will of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/to-think-profoundly-to-seek-and-speak-truth-to-love-justice-and/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [The Roman Catholic Church is an institution for whose gains the phrase "ill-gotten" might have been specially invented. And of all its money-making rip-offs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-roman-catholic-church-is-an-institution-for-whose-gains-the/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) [Browse all 2,279 Ill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Antisthenes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-be-ill-spoken-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ill" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-be-ill-spoken-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f8/antisthenes-24350_ill_it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-b_2918328.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is a royal privilege to do good and be ill spoken of.” — Antisthenes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Antisthenes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antisthenes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is a royal privilege to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-be-ill-spoken-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antisthenes/it-is-a-royal-privilege-to-do-good-and-be-ill-spoken-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```