Goodness Quote by Mortimer Jerome Adler
““A good performance, like a human life, is a temporal affair—a process in time. It is good as a whole through being good in its parts, and through their good order to one another. It cannot be called good as a whole until it is finished. During the process all we can say of it, if we speak precisely, is that it is becoming good. The same is true of a whole human life. Just as the whole performance never exists at any one time, but is a process of becoming, so a human life is also a performance in time and a process of becoming. And just as the goodness that attaches to the performance as a whole does not attach to any of its parts, so the goodness of a human life as a whole belongs to it alone, and not to any of its parts or phases.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Six Great Ideas, 1952
Life and performance are processes that become good through the quality and order of their parts; the whole is judged only when complete.
In simple terms: Life is a series of ordered parts that together create goodness.
Key Takeaway
Focus on making each part good.
Themes
philosophy
ethics
human nature
Mood
reflective
thoughtful
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- career planning
- artistic creation
- education
- personal development
- team projects
Key Concepts
process
temporal
holism
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you assess the quality of each stage in a long‑term goal?
- What practices ensure good order among parts?
A Different Perspective
Evaluating only the final outcome can ignore valuable learning from intermediate steps.
