--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People are good or half good or a quarter…" description: "\"People are good or half good or a quarter good, and it changes all the time- but even on the best day nobody's perfect.\" — Colum McCann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91d/colum-mccann-902_best-day_people-are-good-or-half-good-or-a-quarte_347766.png" --- # People are good or half good or a quarter good, and it… ![“People are good or half good or a quarter good, and it changes all the time- but even on the best day nobody's perfect.” quote by Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91d/colum-mccann-902_best-day_people-are-good-or-half-good-or-a-quarte_347766.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91d/colum-mccann-902_best-day_people-are-good-or-half-good-or-a-quarte_347766.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/91d/colum-mccann-902_best-day_people-are-good-or-half-good-or-a-quarte_347766.png) > “People are good or half good or a quarter good, and it changes all the time- but even on the best day nobody's perfect.” [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human goodness varies and is never absolute; perfection is unattainable. **In simple terms:** People are imperfect. Key Takeaway Accept imperfection. Themes human nature imperfection growth Mood thoughtful empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - self‑assessment - teamwork Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - In what ways do you accept others' flaws? - How can you improve your own goodness? A Different Perspective Idealizing perfection can cause disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-day/) [Nobody'S Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobody-s-perfect/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) ## Related quotes > [If it's half as good as the half we've known, here's Hail! to the rest of the road.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-vanauken/if-it-s-half-as-good-as-the-half-we-ve-known-here-s-hail-to-the-rest/) [Sheldon Vanauken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-vanauken/) > [Nobody's perfect. We're all just one step up from the beasts and one step down from the angels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/nobody-s-perfect-we-re-all-just-one-step-up-from-the-beasts-and-one/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Everybody is pretty good in the first quarter. Second quarter, you have a little bump or two on you coming into the half. By…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-jones/everybody-is-pretty-good-in-the-first-quarter-second-quarter-you-have/) [Jerry Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-jones/) > [We are all a quarter good, a quarter bad, a quarter animal and a quarter child which equals a whole bunch of crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cara-delevingne/we-are-all-a-quarter-good-a-quarter-bad-a-quarter-animal-and-a/) [Cara Delevingne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cara-delevingne/) > [If the chemistry between me and the artist is good, then that's half the battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-rechtshaid/if-the-chemistry-between-me-and-the-artist-is-good-then-that-s-half/) [Ariel Rechtshaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-rechtshaid/) > [“The sincere wish to be good is half the battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/the-sincere-wish-to-be-good-is-half-the-battle/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [A good half of the art of living is resilience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/a-good-half-of-the-art-of-living-is-resilience/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [I'm not perfect, but I'd like to be perfect. I'm working on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-long/i-m-not-perfect-but-i-d-like-to-be-perfect-i-m-working-on-it/) [Shelley Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-long/) > [A good front is half the battle in love or war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/a-good-front-is-half-the-battle-in-love-or-war/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [“Two heads are twice as good as half many.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-d-doss/two-heads-are-twice-as-good-as-half-many/) James D. Doss > [Im sorry I cant be perfect but at least I'm me and not a fake < 3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-eyes/im-sorry-i-cant-be-perfect-but-at-least-i-m-me-and-not-a-fake-3/) Angel\_eyes > [Hey, Dad, look at me Think back, and talk to me Did I grow up according to plan? And do you think I'm wasting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simple-plan/hey-dad-look-at-me-think-back-and-talk-to-me-did-i-grow-up-according/) [Simple Plan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simple-plan/) > [Im not a perfect girl, my hair doesn't stay in place and I spill things a lot, Im pretty clumsy, sometimes I have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenzie-lynn/im-not-a-perfect-girl-my-hair-doesn-t-stay-in-place-and-i-spill/) [Kenzie Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenzie-lynn/) > [Im not beautiful I'm not a tumblr girl I'm not perfect but I can say I'm me I'm my self no matter what if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talyiah/im-not-beautiful-i-m-not-a-tumblr-girl-i-m-not-perfect-but-i-can-say/) [Talyiah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talyiah/) > [Confidence doesn't come from thinking you're perfect or flawless. That's arrogance. Confidence comes from appreciating the beauty of your texture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/confidence-doesn-t-come-from-thinking-you-re-perfect-or-flawless-that/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) ## More by Colum McCann > [Give life long enough and it will solve all your problems, including the one of being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/give-life-long-enough-and-it-will-solve-all-your-problems-including/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“There is something that happens to the mind in moments of terror. Perhaps we figure it's the last we'll ever have and we record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/there-is-something-that-happens-to-the-mind-in-moments-of-terror/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“The short sharp shock of three thousand mother two hundred mothers. The ones who picked through the supermarket debris for pieces of their dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/the-short-sharp-shock-of-three-thousand-mother-two-hundred-mothers/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm not so sure that I can teach people how to, you know, write dialogue or create plot or anything like that. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-not-so-sure-that-i-can-teach-people-how-to-you-know-write/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Once we had filled each other with desire, not remembrance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/once-we-had-filled-each-other-with-desire-not-remembrance/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“How long ago it was and how strange, but all dead friends come to life again sometimes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/how-long-ago-it-was-and-how-strange-but-all-dead-friends-come-to-life/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She would want, instead, to recall him in the air, between layers of cloud. To give him back that ancient dignity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-would-want-instead-to-recall-him-in-the-air-between-layers-of/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [Novels are more difficult simply because they are longer and require more juggling, but short stories are closer to perfection, if you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/novels-are-more-difficult-simply-because-they-are-longer-and-require/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/it-was-a-silence-that-heard-itself-awful-and-beautiful/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I think one of the biggest political failures, and the biggest social failures, over the past few years has been the failure of empathy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-think-one-of-the-biggest-political-failures-and-the-biggest-social/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“Bits of it floating in the air, he said. "It's like dust. You walk about and don't see it, don't notice it, but it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/bits-of-it-floating-in-the-air-he-said-it-s-like-dust-you-walk-about/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“He has read whole volumes on the philosophy of nonviolence. How peace had to be understood in all its moral dimensions. The proper coexistence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/he-has-read-whole-volumes-on-the-philosophy-of-nonviolence-how-peace/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She’s always thought that one of the beauties of New York is that you can be from anywhere and within moments of landing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-s-always-thought-that-one-of-the-beauties-of-new-york-is-that-you/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [I'm of the opinion that the real is imagined and the imagined is quite real. The real is imagined, in the sense that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/i-m-of-the-opinion-that-the-real-is-imagined-and-the-imagined-is/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“She had that emigrant’s sadness—she would never go back to her old country—it was gone in more senses than one—but she was forever gazing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/she-had-that-emigrant-s-sadness-she-would-never-go-back-to-her-old/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) [Explore all 333 Colum McCann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) ## More Best day quotes > [The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. 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It is an amazing journey, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-best-day-in-your-life-is-the-one-on-which-you-decide-your-life-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Today is the best day I could ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-dees/today-is-the-best-day-i-could-ever-have/) [Rick Dees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-dees/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Always be grateful that your worst day ever is still better, than the best day of someone else in the world”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ged-cusack/always-be-grateful-that-your-worst-day-ever-is-still-better-than-the/) Ged Cusack > [“One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/one-of-the-illusions-of-life-is-that-the-present-hour-is-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Light on its worst day will conquer darkness on its best day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/light-on-its-worst-day-will-conquer-darkness-on-its-best-day/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings-2/to-be-nobody-but-yourself-in-a-world-which-is-doing-its-best-day-and/) [E.E. Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings-2/) > [If fate is a shape-shifter, then loves is too. It can be, anyway, in its most dangerous form. 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