<p>So this quote is indeed referencing confucius, I have seen it pop up before.  However it isn't so much a quote of confucius as paraphrasing his intent in english.  I don't really blame Watts (Or whoever was before him if someone else said it first) for deviating so much, since you can't really cram an entire foreign philosophy explanation in one line.</p>
<p>The philosophy itself is one about a person's humanity/benevolence/heart for the greater good/love for mankind/eachother etc.  It is one of the core virtues in confusianism and confusian writing, which is translated as virtue--or goodie good ness here-- original chinese term 仁.  It shows up in a huge amount of confucian writing and quotes and comments on what to do and what not to do as a confucian person in society.</p>
<p>The quote in question is probably from the line 不如鄉人之善者好之其不善者惡之   this line is talking about how some &quot;good&quot; people are not popular because they are actually good, but because they are good at looking like they are good. Therefore they are just thieves stealing the title of benevolent, or &quot;goodie goodness&quot;.</p>
<p>Basically a line referring to how people should see the truth of the situation and not just the surface layer.  English quotes related to the same idea would be &quot;hell in a hand basket&quot; &quot;two faced&quot; or &quot;wolf in sheep's clothing&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-22T03:02:26.913Z
It is inevitable for non-Native translators, (not denying their academic credentials of course), to interpret / translate Chinese ancient text of a complex, culture-loaded subject from the familiar view point of the author's own native philological traditions, philosophical learnings and maybe even cultural bias. (not saying Alan Watts is one such) However,  using "goodie goodness", (in application to the subject under discussion), has an unwarranted cynical character about it by equating it to  仁 which is beyond individual "goodness", for it encompasses a sense of universal beneficence.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-23T05:23:43.883Z
@WayneCheah I did not mean any cynicalness here.  similar to white lori's in chinese, goodie goodie can be a cynical mockery, or used literally to describe people with that type of pure benevolence to human kind as a whole.  In this case I meant it literally :)
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-28T22:33:44.660Z
2024-01-28T22:33:44.660Z
zagrycha
<p>Does anyone know where I can find the origin of this quote?</p>
<p>It is often attributed to Confucious, though I could only trace it back to Alan Watt(eg: <a href="https://truthlesstruth.wordpress.com/tag/alan-watts/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://truthlesstruth.wordpress.com/tag/alan-watts/</a>).</p>
<p>I'm looking for the original text or book if it was indeed something Confucious wrote.</p>
<p>The closest I could find was:</p>
<pre><code>子曰            ：鄉原，德之賊也！
Confucius said ：The village worthy is the ruin of virtue.
</code></pre>
<p>Excerpt From
四书五经·论语</p>

<culture><history>
The origin of "goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue"
# The origin of "goody-goodies are the thieves of virtue"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-28)

Does anyone know where I can find the origin of this quote?
It is often attributed to Confucious, though I could only trace it back to Alan Watt(eg: https://truthlesstruth.wordpress.com/tag/alan-watts/).
I'm looking for the original text or book if it was indeed something Confucious wrote.
The closest I could find was:
子曰            ：鄉原，德之賊也！
Confucius said ：The village worthy is the ruin of virtue.

Excerpt From
四书五经·论语

**Tags:** culture, history


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-01-28. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

So this quote is indeed referencing confucius, I have seen it pop up before. However it isn't so much a quote of confucius as paraphrasing his intent in english. I don't really blame Watts (Or whoever was before him if someone else said it first) for deviating so much, since you can't really cram an entire foreign philosophy explanation in one line.

The philosophy itself is one about a person's humanity/benevolence/heart for the greater good/love for mankind/eachother etc. It is one of the core virtues in confusianism and confusian writing, which is translated as virtue--or goodie good ness here-- original chinese term 仁. It shows up in a huge amount of confucian writing and quotes and comments on what to do and what not to do as a confucian person in society.

The quote in question is probably from the line 不如鄉人之善者好之其不善者惡之 this line is talking about how some "good" people are not popular because they are actually good, but because they are good at looking like they are good. Therefore they are just thieves stealing the title of benevolent, or "goodie goodness".

Basically a line referring to how people should see the truth of the situation and not just the surface layer. English quotes related to the same idea would be "hell in a hand basket" "two faced" or "wolf in sheep's clothing"

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: It is inevitable for non-Native translators, (not denying their academic credentials of course), to interpret / translate Chinese ancient text of a complex, culture-loaded subject from the familiar view point of the author's own native philological traditions, philosophical learnings and maybe even cultural bias. (not saying Alan Watts is one such) However,  using "goodie goodness", (in application to the subject under discussion), has an unwarranted cynical character about it by equating it to  仁 which is beyond individual "goodness", for it encompasses a sense of universal beneficence.  
> **username_1**: @WayneCheah I did not mean any cynicalness here.  similar to white lori's in chinese, goodie goodie can be a cynical mockery, or used literally to describe people with that type of pure benevolence to human kind as a whole.  In this case I meant it literally :)  

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