--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Good is not good, unless A thousand it…" description: "\"Good is not good, unless A thousand it possess, But doth waste with greediness.\" — John Donne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png" --- # Good is not good, unless A thousand it possess, But doth… ![“Good is not good, unless A thousand it possess, But doth waste with greediness.” quote by John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png) > “Good is not good, unless A thousand it possess, But doth waste with greediness.” [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True goodness requires abundant virtue; without it, greed squanders potential and corrupts the good. **In simple terms:** Goodness needs plenty, not greed. Key Takeaway Cultivate generosity over greed. Themes virtue greed abundance Mood thoughtful serious Type spiritual ethical When to use this quote - personal growth - financial stewardship - community service - leadership Key Concepts ethical philosophy spirituality Questions to Reflect On - How does greed undermine good? - What practices foster abundant virtue? A Different Perspective Abundance alone doesn't guarantee moral action; intent matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doth Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doth-waste-3404930/) [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Greediness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greediness/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Unless Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unless-thousand-2805516/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Waste Greediness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-greediness-3404929/) ## Related quotes > [“What still doth waste, and wasting as this light, Are my sad days unto eternal night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wroth/what-still-doth-waste-and-wasting-as-this-light-are-my-sad-days-unto/) [Mary Wroth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wroth/) > [You simply cannot make more (reefs), unless you have a few thousand years to wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-rader/you-simply-cannot-make-more-reefs-unless-you-have-a-few-thousand/) [Doug Rader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-rader/) > [Never take any notice of Anonymous letters, unless you get a few thousand on the same subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-menzies/never-take-any-notice-of-anonymous-letters-unless-you-get-a-few/) [Robert Menzies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-menzies/) > [“It’s not a sin to be obsessed with money, for without it, there can be no material benefits. But what about the richness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhaidev/it-s-not-a-sin-to-be-obsessed-with-money-for-without-it-there-can-be/) [Abhaidev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhaidev/) > [“Nothing destroys the spirit of greediness faster than the spirit of giving.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arthur/nothing-destroys-the-spirit-of-greediness-faster-than-the-spirit-of/) [John Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arthur/) > [Greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind; hate is an imperfection that defiles the mind; delusion is an imperfection that defiles the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/greed-is-an-imperfection-that-defiles-the-mind-hate-is-an/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“The most chronic heart disease is caused by having greediness in your heart. Go for check ups regularly and learn how to swallow those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/the-most-chronic-heart-disease-is-caused-by-having-greediness-in-your/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [There is a very fine line between love and nausea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-earl-jones/there-is-a-very-fine-line-between-love-and-nausea/) [James Earl Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-earl-jones/) > [“Don't envy what people have, emulate what they did to have it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/don-t-envy-what-people-have-emulate-what-they-did-to-have-it/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [“Don't compare the size of your roof with the size of the sky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/don-t-compare-the-size-of-your-roof-with-the-size-of-the-sky/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“And greed will breed harshness and cruelty. And wealth is a maze to confuse. Once a person is warm and well-suppered, how much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitton-tony/and-greed-will-breed-harshness-and-cruelty-and-wealth-is-a-maze-to/) [Mitton Tony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitton-tony/) > [God can rid your heart of greed, but it's your responsibility to remove yourself from situations that promote greediness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-dillow/god-can-rid-your-heart-of-greed-but-it-s-your-responsibility-to/) [Linda Dillow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-dillow/) > [We risk all in being too greedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-fontaine/we-risk-all-in-being-too-greedy/) [Jean de La Fontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-fontaine/) > [Man is at his furthest remove from the animal as a child, his intellect most human. With his fifteenth year and puberty he comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-is-at-his-furthest-remove-from-the-animal-as-a-child-his/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“...of all the nonsense that twists the world, the concept of 'altruism' is the worst. People do what they want to do, every time.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/of-all-the-nonsense-that-twists-the-world-the-concept-of-altruism-is/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ## More by John Donne > [Our critical day is not the very day of our death; but the whole course of our life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/our-critical-day-is-not-the-very-day-of-our-death-but-the-whole/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [But I do nothing upon myself, and yet I am my own executioner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/but-i-do-nothing-upon-myself-and-yet-i-am-my-own-executioner/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-mankind-is-of-one-author-and-is-one-volume-when-one-man-dies-one/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats and drink and air and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/we-study-health-and-we-deliberate-upon-our-meats-and-drink-and-air/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Commemoration of Pandita Mary Ramabai, Translator of the Scriptures, 1922 A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/commemoration-of-pandita-mary-ramabai-translator-of-the-scriptures/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Various content To your eyes, ears, and tongue, and every part. If then your body go, what need you a heart?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/various-content-to-your-eyes-ears-and-tongue-and-every-part-if-then/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [“Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ; That I may rise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/batter-my-heart-three-person-d-god-for-you-as-yet-but-knock-breathe/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Young men mend not their sight by using old men's spectacles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/young-men-mend-not-their-sight-by-using-old-men-s-spectacles/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [That which attempts to elevate the ugly to the level of beauty becomes neither; but an obscenity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/that-which-attempts-to-elevate-the-ugly-to-the-level-of-beauty/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [For I am every dead thing In whom love wrought new alchemy For his art did express A quintessence even from nothingness, From dull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/for-i-am-every-dead-thing-in-whom-love-wrought-new-alchemy-for-his/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [As states subsist in part by keeping their weaknesses from being known, so is it the quiet of families to have their chancery and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/as-states-subsist-in-part-by-keeping-their-weaknesses-from-being/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [All Kings, and all their favorites, All glory of honors, beauties, wits, The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass, Is elder by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/all-kings-and-all-their-favorites-all-glory-of-honors-beauties-wits/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [On a huge hill, Cragged, and steep, Truth stands, and hee that will Reach her, about must, and about must goo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/on-a-huge-hill-cragged-and-steep-truth-stands-and-hee-that-will-reach/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [How many times go we to comedies, to masques, to places of great and noble resort, nay even to church only to see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/how-many-times-go-we-to-comedies-to-masques-to-places-of-great-and/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) > [Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy, or charms, can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/thou-art-slave-to-fate-chance-kings-and-desperate-men-and-dost-with/) [John Donne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) [Explore all 325 John Donne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/) ## More Goodness quotes > [This is a proof of a well-trained mind, to rejoice in what is good and to grieve at the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/this-is-a-proof-of-a-well-trained-mind-to-rejoice-in-what-is-good-and/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) [Daniel K Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-k-judd/) > [Love reacts with goodness towards those who ill-treat it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alistair-begg/love-reacts-with-goodness-towards-those-who-ill-treat-it/) [Alistair Begg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alistair-begg/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [One may not doubt that, somehow Good Shall come of Water and of Mud; And sure, the reverent eye must see A purpose in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-brooke/one-may-not-doubt-that-somehow-good-shall-come-of-water-and-of-mud/) [Rupert Brooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-brooke/) > [I've never had any desire to be good. I don't like goodness particularly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/i-ve-never-had-any-desire-to-be-good-i-don-t-like-goodness/) [Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/) > [the path of goodness had a name it is called Love in it we find the key to every hope and has it's root…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-path-of-goodness-had-a-name-it-is-called-love-in-it-we-find-the/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [The family remains the basic unit of society and the first school in which children learn the human, spiritual and moral values which enable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-family-remains-the-basic-unit-of-society-and-the-first-school-in/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [To make one good action succeed another, is the perfection of goodness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-ibn-abi-talib/to-make-one-good-action-succeed-another-is-the-perfection-of-goodness/) [Ali ibn Abi Talib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-ibn-abi-talib/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [A good man therefore is a standing lesson to us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fielding/a-good-man-therefore-is-a-standing-lesson-to-us-all/) [Henry Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fielding/) > [And if thy heart be straight with God then every creature shall be to thee a mirror of life and a book of holy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/and-if-thy-heart-be-straight-with-god-then-every-creature-shall-be-to/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [“Sometimes resilience arrives in the moment you discover your own unshakeable goodness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-boyle/sometimes-resilience-arrives-in-the-moment-you-discover-your-own/) [Gregory Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-boyle/) > [What is sin? It is the glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/what-is-sin-it-is-the-glory-of-god-not-honored-the-holiness-of-god/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) [Browse all 3,129 Goodness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Good is not good, unless A thousand it possess, But doth waste with greediness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Donne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-possess-but-doth-waste-with/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Goodness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-possess-but-doth-waste-with/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/john-donne-933_goodness_good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-po_1984186.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Good is not good, unless A thousand it possess, But doth waste with greediness.” — John Donne", "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": "John Donne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-donne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Good is not good, unless A...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-possess-but-doth-waste-with/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-donne/good-is-not-good-unless-a-thousand-it-possess-but-doth-waste-with/#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 } } ] } ```