--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I must try and be good, or clever, or…" description: "\"“I must try and be good, or clever, or eccentric, for it was very evident that pretty I could never be”\" — Rhoda Broughton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rhoda-broughton-25508_quote_i-must-try-and-be-good-or-clever-or-ecce_1912002.jpg" --- # I must try and be good, or clever, or eccentric, for it… ![“I must try and be good, or clever, or eccentric, for it was very evident that pretty I could never be” quote by Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rhoda-broughton-25508_quote_i-must-try-and-be-good-or-clever-or-ecce_1912002.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rhoda-broughton-25508_quote_i-must-try-and-be-good-or-clever-or-ecce_1912002.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rhoda-broughton-25508_quote_i-must-try-and-be-good-or-clever-or-ecce_1912002.jpg) > ““I must try and be good, or clever, or eccentric, for it was very evident that pretty I could never be”” [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A self‑critical reflection on personal inadequacy, humorously acknowledging one’s perceived flaws. **In simple terms:** Self‑critique reveals personal flaws. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and self‑awareness. Themes self‑reflection humor insecurity Mood reflective lighthearted introspective Type literary personal When to use this quote - therapy session - creative writing - personal journal - team feedback Key Concepts personal growth identity self‑acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What strengths balance your perceived flaws? - How can humor aid self‑acceptance? A Different Perspective May be overly harsh on oneself. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Eccentric](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eccentric/) ## Related quotes > [I think you've still got to try to be good, day-to-day. You see a granny, you hold the door open for her. You just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sami-zayn/i-think-you-ve-still-got-to-try-to-be-good-day-to-day-you-see-a/) [Sami Zayn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sami-zayn/) > [With my platform, anyway, I want to try and do good things and want to help people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millie-bobby-brown/with-my-platform-anyway-i-want-to-try-and-do-good-things-and-want-to/) [Millie Bobby Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millie-bobby-brown/) > [I try to find the good in life, but good things are hard to find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james/i-try-to-find-the-good-in-life-but-good-things-are-hard-to-find/) [James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james/) > [“I try to see the good in life But good things in life are hard to find”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daughtry/i-try-to-see-the-good-in-life-but-good-things-in-life-are-hard-to-find/) [Daughtry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daughtry/) > [I try to be good. But sometime good is not enough for some peoples. At least I try my best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debora-yaory/i-try-to-be-good-but-sometime-good-is-not-enough-for-some-peoples-at/) Debora Yaory > [“Try to see the good in all things...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-howson/try-to-see-the-good-in-all-things/) [M. Howson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-howson/) > [I think it's a human tendency that's been around for a while to try to be as good as possible to prove your worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-think-it-s-a-human-tendency-that-s-been-around-for-a-while-to-try/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I do small things. I try to do good things every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-chan/i-do-small-things-i-try-to-do-good-things-every-day/) [Jackie Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-chan/) > [“Try to find good questions and not good answers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho-the-alchemist/try-to-find-good-questions-and-not-good-answers/) [Paulo Coelho The Alchemist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho-the-alchemist/) > [“I try to see only the good in him; I try.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-try-to-see-only-the-good-in-him-i-try/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I get to do what I love every day, and I've got a great group of people around me that I have fun with.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-froning-jr/i-get-to-do-what-i-love-every-day-and-i-ve-got-a-great-group-of/) [Rich Froning Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-froning-jr/) > [Even when you are alone, always try to be in good company.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/even-when-you-are-alone-always-try-to-be-in-good-company/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [I try to give back some of the good fortune that I've received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rabbitt/i-try-to-give-back-some-of-the-good-fortune-that-i-ve-received/) [Eddie Rabbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rabbitt/) > [If I see someone down, I'll try to give him a good laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-cowley/if-i-see-someone-down-i-ll-try-to-give-him-a-good-laugh/) [Joe Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-cowley/) > [I try to be a good, diligent actor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moon-bloodgood/i-try-to-be-a-good-diligent-actor/) [Moon Bloodgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moon-bloodgood/) ## More by Rhoda Broughton > [“Poor Victor! poor Victor!” she thought; and then she tried mentally to project herself into the situation of the wretched, remorseful Frenchwoman, the coquette…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/poor-victor-poor-victor-she-thought-and-then-she-tried-mentally-to/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Great kingdoms grew into being in the old times, at least we suppose so, we having now nothing of them but their dark old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/great-kingdoms-grew-into-being-in-the-old-times-at-least-we-suppose/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [ “Beauty is a fading flower;”\[3\] and, applied particularly to woman’s loveliness, there is none more favourite among that bundle of dull platitudes, of insipid,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/beauty-is-a-fading-flower-3-and-applied-particularly-to-woman-s/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“To how few people a premonition of what is going to happen to them, either of sweet or sour, is vouchsafed! Is it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/to-how-few-people-a-premonition-of-what-is-going-to-happen-to-them/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“IT seems a stupid hackneyed sort of thing to say—a thing whose point by much wear is worn out, a thing which everybody says,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/it-seems-a-stupid-hackneyed-sort-of-thing-to-say-a-thing-whose-point/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Since this time yesterday she had made the pleasing discovery that she was fast falling in love violently, and as it now appeared unrequitedly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/since-this-time-yesterday-she-had-made-the-pleasing-discovery-that/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Kate stood by that low bed, looking down earnestly on its occupant—that occupant that was now a person, and soon would be—O, fearful metamorphosis!—but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/kate-stood-by-that-low-bed-looking-down-earnestly-on-its-occupant/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“And yet, despite all my reasoning to the contrary, I feel that the father and sons in the Laocoon are men and not gods.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/and-yet-despite-all-my-reasoning-to-the-contrary-i-feel-that-the/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Look at me now. I have done very well without love, at least love in that technical sense, without this fine passion, for twenty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/look-at-me-now-i-have-done-very-well-without-love-at-least-love-in/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“1864 Broughton’s sister Eleanor marries William Charles Newcome; Broughton makes her home with them at Upper Eyarth in Denbyshire. She shows her uncle by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/1864-broughton-s-sister-eleanor-marries-william-charles-newcome/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Man is so entirely dependent on man—so much a part, so little a whole—that I do not believe he is intended to be so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/man-is-so-entirely-dependent-on-man-so-much-a-part-so-little-a-whole/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Generation after generation of short-spanned living creatures has ripened and rotted, they looking calmly on, superior in their unwithering amaranthine bloom—generation after generation has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/generation-after-generation-of-short-spanned-living-creatures-has/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“What was it to her whether people would laugh or sneer at what she was doing? No such notion ever crossed her mind; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/what-was-it-to-her-whether-people-would-laugh-or-sneer-at-what-she/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“The only course to pursue to make life bearable on such a day, at least for women (I speak not of men, considering their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/the-only-course-to-pursue-to-make-life-bearable-on-such-a-day-at/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) > [“Marvellous pitch of civilisation for us to have attained to, to be able to do such a thing! we must come soon to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhoda-broughton/marvellous-pitch-of-civilisation-for-us-to-have-attained-to-to-be/) [Rhoda Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) [Explore all 23 Rhoda Broughton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhoda-broughton/) ## More Clever quotes > [In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like "charming" and "clever" and "pretty" are all put-downs; all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/in-some-circles-where-very-heavy-people-think-they-have-very-heavy/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“There was once an old but clever donkey, who never liked the sting of any bee, Nor for all the Slung mud, did he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyavrat-thareja/there-was-once-an-old-but-clever-donkey-who-never-liked-the-sting-of/) [Priyavrat Thareja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyavrat-thareja/) > [ There was another reason \[she\] took her books whenever they went away. They were her home when she was somewhere strange. They were familiar… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/there-was-another-reason-she-took-her-books-whenever-they-went-away/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“The cactus thrives in the desert while the fern thrives in the wetland. The fool will try to plant them in the same flowerbox.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/the-cactus-thrives-in-the-desert-while-the-fern-thrives-in-the/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Good people are found not changed. Recently I read a headline that said, 'We don't teach people to be nice. We simply hire nice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/good-people-are-found-not-changed-recently-i-read-a-headline-that/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [If she is stupid enough to let you go, you're clever enough not to look back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-she-is-stupid-enough-to-let-you-go-you-re-clever-enough-not-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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 > [My valour is certainly going! - it is sneaking off! - I feel it oozing out as it were at the palms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/my-valour-is-certainly-going-it-is-sneaking-off-i-feel-it-oozing-out/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [People may say that what I do is very clever, but it's not really at all. It's not Swift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-bremner/people-may-say-that-what-i-do-is-very-clever-but-it-s-not-really-at/) [Rory Bremner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-bremner/) > [I do remember what I said. The promise. To protect her. If I'd done that ... even if I didn't make it, you wouldn't've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joss-whedon/i-do-remember-what-i-said-the-promise-to-protect-her-if-i-d-done-that/) [Joss Whedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joss-whedon/) > [“Regrets are like mistresses," he informed her. "I ..." Her hand dropped from the handle. "What?" "Good men don't have them." 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