--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No human endeavour can ever be wholly…" description: "\"No human endeavour can ever be wholly good... it must always have a cost.\" — William Golding" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/william-golding-1233_cost_no-human-endeavour-can-ever-be-wholly-go_1781104.png" --- # No human endeavour can ever be wholly good... it must… ![“No human endeavour can ever be wholly good... it must always have a cost.” quote by William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/william-golding-1233_cost_no-human-endeavour-can-ever-be-wholly-go_1781104.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/william-golding-1233_cost_no-human-endeavour-can-ever-be-wholly-go_1781104.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/william-golding-1233_cost_no-human-endeavour-can-ever-be-wholly-go_1781104.png) > “No human endeavour can ever be wholly good... it must always have a cost.” [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human actions inevitably involve sacrifice; goodness cannot exist without cost. **In simple terms:** Goodness requires sacrifice. Key Takeaway Accept that all actions have consequences. Themes ethics human nature trade-offs Mood thoughtful serious Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - leadership - conflict resolution - ethical decision making Key Concepts moral cost imperfection Questions to Reflect On - What costs are you willing to bear for good? - How do you balance benefit and harm? A Different Perspective Idealism may ignore necessary compromises. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Endeavour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endeavour/) [Endeavour Wholly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endeavour-wholly-1863529/) [Good Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-cost-1863530/) [Human Endeavour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-endeavour-231247/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Wholly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wholly/) [Wholly Good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wholly-good-1640915/) ## Related quotes > [All art is dependent on technology because it's a human endeavour, so even when you're using charcoal on a wall or designed the proscenium…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/all-art-is-dependent-on-technology-because-it-s-a-human-endeavour-so/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) > [Generally, it is human endeavour to have young people lead, and you see that in public life in the U.S. and everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-khurshid/generally-it-is-human-endeavour-to-have-young-people-lead-and-you-see/) [Salman Khurshid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-khurshid/) > [Can you think of any problem, in any area of human endeavour, on any scale, from microscopic to global, whose long-term solution is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-allen-bartlett/can-you-think-of-any-problem-in-any-area-of-human-endeavour-on-any/) [Albert Allen Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-allen-bartlett/) > [To love anything good, at any cost, is a bargain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-love-anything-good-at-any-cost-is-a-bargain/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Fairly examined, truly understood, No man is wholly bad, nor wholly good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theognis-of-megara/fairly-examined-truly-understood-no-man-is-wholly-bad-nor-wholly-good/) [Theognis of Megara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theognis-of-megara/) > [There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-no-principle-worth-the-name-if-it-is-not-wholly-good/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There are few things wholly evil or wholly good. 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She was wholly her own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-ahdieh/she-was-not-a-half-she-was-wholly-her-own/) [Renee Ahdieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-ahdieh/) > [I ascribe my change wholly to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-ascribe-my-change-wholly-to-god/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [He defined himself almost wholly in the negative: It was not who he was, it was who he was not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bohjalian/he-defined-himself-almost-wholly-in-the-negative-it-was-not-who-he/) [Chris Bohjalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bohjalian/) > [Love is either wholly folly, or fully holy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-r-burch/love-is-either-wholly-folly-or-fully-holy/) [Michael R. Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-r-burch/) ## More by William Golding > [Heaven lies around us in our infancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/heaven-lies-around-us-in-our-infancy/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“Sucks to your ass-mar!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/sucks-to-your-ass-mar/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/ralph-wept-for-the-end-of-innocence-the-darkness-of-man-s-heart-and/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“Once more, amid the breeze, the shouting, the slanting sunlight on the high mountain, was shed that glamour, that strange invisible light of friendship,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/once-more-amid-the-breeze-the-shouting-the-slanting-sunlight-on-the/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“There ought to be some mode of life where all love is good, where one love can't compete with another but adds to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/there-ought-to-be-some-mode-of-life-where-all-love-is-good-where-one/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/his-mind-was-crowded-with-memories-memories-of-the-knowledge-that-had/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“I stood, in shame and confusion, seeing for the first time despite my anger a different picture of Evie in her life-long struggle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/i-stood-in-shame-and-confusion-seeing-for-the-first-time-despite-my/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [When you take a child who's hollering like hell, sit him on your knee, and say "once upon a time", you stop him hollering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/when-you-take-a-child-who-s-hollering-like-hell-sit-him-on-your-knee/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [I am here; and here is nowhere in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/i-am-here-and-here-is-nowhere-in-particular/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/the-beast-was-harmless-and-horrible-and-the-news-must-reach-the/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“He tried to convey the compulsion to track down and kill that was swallowing him up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/he-tried-to-convey-the-compulsion-to-track-down-and-kill-that-was/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [I'm scared of him," said Piggy, "and that's why I know him. 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If a doctor said take this because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/but-nobody-else-understands-about-the-fire-if-someone-threw-you-a/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) > [“I think women are foolish to pretend that they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/i-think-women-are-foolish-to-pretend-that-they-are-equal-to-men-they/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) [Explore all 263 William Golding quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) ## More Cost quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. 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