180 Good Men Quotes to Help You Become The Best Version of Yourself
How can someone be a nice man?
How can he develop himself to become a stronger, smarter, kinder and more successful man?
That’s what I want to examine in today’s piece. In it you’ll discover 180 of the greatest, most insightful and motivating good guy quotes.
Timeless concepts that help you live a better life and become the greatest version of yourself. Both for your own sake and success and for the people you love.
I hope you’ll discover anything genuinely beneficial here.
And if you want even more positive and uplifting inspiration then check out this article with quotations that strike hard and this one loaded with words of encouragement for guys.
Inspiring Nice Guy Quotes
“Waste no more time talking about what a decent guy should be. Be one.”
— Marcus Aurelius
“The ultimate measure of a guy is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”
— Samuel Johnson
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather become a man of value.”
- Albert Einstein
“There is nothing wrong with being terrified - but there is nothing more wrong than letting it to be your master.”
— Bobby Darin
“A man’s got to have a code, a credo to live by, regardless matter his job.”
— John Wayne
“Being a ‘good man’ is something you do, not something you are.”
— Luvvie Ajayi
“If hesitant to awaken in the morning, say to oneself, ‘I awake to accomplish the labor of a man.’”
— Marcus Aurelius
“Good guys have the fewest anxieties. He has just one huge dread who fears to do evil; he has a thousand who have mastered it.”
— Christian Nestell Bovee
“A decent man would prefer to be vanquished than to overcome wrong by wicked means.”
— Sallust
“The first step to be a decent guy is this: You must genuinely feel the load of the stones anybody else is carrying.”
- Mehmet Murat Ildan
“If a man’s mind becomes pure, his surroundings will likewise become pure.”
- Buddha
Nice Guy Quotes 1
“Nothing deters a decent man from doing what is honorable.”
— Seneca the Younger
Free Newsletter + Bonuses
Join 80,000 people and subscribe to the email newsletter. You'll receive suggestions on happiness, self-esteem and improving your life each week (plus, I'll give you 3 printable checklists on how to quit being lazy, what to do when life stinks and more).
Your Email...
SIGN ME UP!
I agree to receive emails and tailored adverts.
“You have to be a man before you can be a gentleman.”
— John Wayne
“It takes a great guy to be a good listener.”
— Calvin Coolidge
“The heart of a decent man is the refuge of God in this world.”
— Suzanne Curchod
“Believe in yourself. Have believe in your ability. Without a modest but reasonable trust in your skills you cannot be successful or happy.”
— Norman Vincent Peale
“The method of a great man is three-fold: virtuous, he is free from worries; smart, he is free from perplexities; courageous, he is free from fear.”
– Confucius
“To be a man means that you embrace all life has to offer you, starting with your name.”
– Burl Ives
“Men are like steel. When they lose their fury, they lose their worth.”
— Chuck Norris
“A decent man is gentler to his opponent than wicked ones are to their friends.”
— Joseph Hall
“You spend time with your family? Good. For a guy who doesn’t spend time with his family will never be a true man.”
- Don Vito Corleone (from the movie the Godfather) (from the movie the Godfather)
Nice Guy Quotes 2
“The true man laughs in hardship, takes strength from suffering, and becomes bold by reflection.”
— Thomas Paine
“The guy who is befitting the term is the one whose thoughts and exertions are for others rather than for himself.”
— Walter Scott
Motivational Good Man Quotes
“Life is too brief to be tiny. Man is never so macho as when he feels sincerely, acts bravely, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.”
— Benjamin Disraeli
“Big positions frequently go to the guys who establish their capacity to outgrow minor ones.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
“A man does what he must - in spite of personal repercussions, in spite of barriers and hazards and pressures – and that is the bedrock of all human morality.”
— John F. Kennedy
“A man may conquer a million soldiers in combat but one who conquers himself is, truly, the greatest of conquerors.”
- Buddha
“You and only you are accountable for your life choices and decisions.”
— Robert Kiyosaki
Nice Guy Quotes 2
“The successful guy will benefit from his failures and try again in a new way.”
— Dale Carnegie
“Your life will become better by making other lives better.”
— Will Smith
“A great man does not seek plaudits or position; he strives for truth; he seeks the route to pleasure, and what he ascertains, he shares to others.”
— Robert Green Ingersoll
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are ready to die having left undone.”
— Pablo Picasso
“A young man without ambition is an old man waiting to be.”
— Steven Brust
“It takes a great man to offer excellent counsel delicately, but a greater to receive it graciously.”
— Logan Pearsall Smith
“You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you look, and brighter than you think.”
– A.A. Milne
“Do not ask for an easy existence. Pray for the strength to survive a tough one.”
- Bruce Lee
Wise Nice Guy Quotes
“You cannot think yourself into a character; you must hammer and build yourself one.”
— James Froude
“A decent man is gentler to his opponent than wicked ones are to their friends.”
— Joseph Hall
“As a general guideline, it pays to be confident, helpful and nice.”
— Colin Wright
“Good guys who wield authority are actually the most intriguing of all people.”
— John Keegan
“The virtuous man is the friend of all living things.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
“Being a good spouse is like being a good stand-up comic: you need 10 years before you can even call yourself a beginner.”
- Jerry Seinfeld
“Don’t conceal your scars, they make you who you are.”
— Frank Sinatra
“Who awakens from prayer a better man, his petition is answered.”
— George Meredith
“One may know a guy by his laugh, and if you enjoy a man's laugh before you know anything of him, you may certainly declare that he is a decent man.”
— Fyodor Dostoevsky
“The life of a decent man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most terrible reproof of vice.”
— Samuel Smiles
“A decent man, while he will appreciate his own people, still will think as highly of the noble persons of every nation under the sun.”
— Samuel Richardson
“Manhood is the conquest of childish narcissism.”
— David Gilmore
“Though in the order of nature angels rank above mankind, nevertheless, by measure of justice, good men are of higher worth than evil angels.”
- Saint Augustine
“My image of the contemporary stoic sage is someone who changes fear into caution, suffering into knowledge, blunders into initiation, and desire into undertaking.”
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“A man may conquer a million soldiers in combat but one who conquers himself is, truly, the greatest of conquerors.”
- Buddha
“You will gain the respect of all men if you begin by earning the respect of yourself.”
— Musonius Rufus
Nice Men Quotes to Offer You Fresh Insights
“There is nothing with which a man is so terrified as getting to know how immensely much he is capable of doing and becoming.”
— Søren Kierkegaard
“Women adore us for our faults. If we have enough of them, they would forgive us anything, including our giant intellects.”
— Oscar Wilde
“No great guy ever complains about shortage of opportunity.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Change your life today. Don't risk on the future, act today, without delay.”
— Simone de Beauvoir
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be a value.”
- Albert Einstein
“The guy who has no fantasies has no wings.”
- Muhammad Ali
“You don’t achieve by being flawless. You achieve by performing outstanding work, consistently.”
— Thibaut
“You cannot teach a guy anything; you can only help him find it himself.”
— Galileo Galilei
“In the face of inhumanity, a decent man responds, but a great one acts.
— James Rollins
“Every day is a fresh life to the wise man.”
— Dale Carnegie
“A dog is not regarded a good dog because he is a good barker. A guy is not regarded a good man because he is a good talker.”
- Buddha
“A person may accomplish anything by being simple and humble.”
- The Vedas
“The guys who act without thinking, and the men who both think and act, are the ones who form the world. The guy who thinks and does not act never forms the world. He may imagine that he does — but it, too, is merely an idea, the notion of a deedless, actionless thinker.”
— Jack London
“We all have to struggle through our faults to become a better man.”
— Emmanuel Adebayor
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and may every new year find you a better man.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“You have to have a number of aspects of yourself. You have to be able to adapt in this environment. You can’t be a lovely man living in a world of savages.”
— Michael Tyson
Nice Men Quotes to Help You Become Even Better
“Failure will never overcome me if my will to achieve is strong enough.”
- Og Mandino
“The mark of a great man is one who understands when to lay aside the important tasks in order to achieve the necessary ones.”
— Brandon Sanderson
“A great man is always ready to be tiny.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A guy who is a master of patience is master of everything else.”
— George Savile
“First discover the man in yourself if you wish inspire manliness in others.”
— Thomas Alcott
“Experience truly does make you better, man.”
— Alan Vega
“To have grown a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered.”
— Oscar Wilde
“If a guy can cross the gap between life and death, if he can go on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.”
— James Dean
“Being a guy is a question of birth. Being a man is a question of choice.”
— Edwin Louis Cole
“Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.”
— Henri Bergson
“Associate with folks of excellent character if you regard your own reputation; because it is better to be alone than in lousy company.”
— George Washington
“Trying to learn to be a nice guy is like studying to play tennis against a wall. You are only a decent guy — a competent, capable, intriguing and loving man — when you’re doing it for, or with, other people.”
– A.A. Gill
“To be disciplined or non-disciplined is a decision you make every minute in every hour of your life.”
— Russell Gerald Johnston
“Strong minds talk ideas, mediocre minds debate events, weak minds discuss people.”
– Socrates
“Nice men may seem to finish last, but typically they are running a different race.”
— Ken Blanchard
“We need guys who can dream about things that never were.”
— John F. Kennedy
“I have never been really inspired by the heroics of those persuaded they are going to transform the world. I am more amazed by people who fight to make one modest difference.”
— Ellen Goodman
“Good guys have the fewest anxieties. He has just one tremendous dread who fears to do evil; he has a thousand who has mastered it.”
— Christian Nestell Bovee
“I’m a decent guy, and I’m going become a better man.”
— Chance the Rapper
“He who Helps his colleagues is, of all his fellows, greatest.”
– E. Urner Goodman
Good Guy Quotes for Appreciate Him
“I believe a gentleman is someone who places the comfort of other people above their own. The impulse to do it is inside every decent guy, I think. The norms about opening doors and paying supper and all of that other ‘gentleman’ stuff is a chess game, particularly these days.”
— Anna Kendrick
“Any guy worth his salt will stand up for what he deems correct, but it takes a somewhat greater man to accept promptly and without hesitation when he is in error.”
— Andrew Jackson
“Happy is the man who finds a good friend, and considerably happy is he who finds that true friend in his wife.”
— Franz Schubert
“A guy must at times be hard as nails: prepared to face up to the truth about himself…But he must also be compassionate. No weapon can break the armor of a woman's wrath like tenderness.”
— Elisabeth Elliot
“A gentleman is one who contributes more into the world than he gets out.”
— George Bernard Shaw
“It makes a great difference when males respect women. There are a lot of guys that don’t, therefore that’s the key trait that would make a decent man a great man.”
— Stephanie Sigman
“One decent guy, one good man, it ain't much — it's simply everything.”
— Deborah Kerr
“For a guy, there’s a great responsibility that comes with having a son because men are formed by their dads. If you’ve got a good productive guy around, it’s better. I have such a tight bond with my dad and that obligation to raise a decent guy is something I worry about.”
— Rafe Spall
“My dad is such a nice guy. You know how when you are a youngster you believe your dad is invincible? Yeah, I still believe that — he is very intelligent and whatever I do I seek my dad's opinion about first.”
— Leona Lewis
“A good guy can't take seeing his lady suffer. He's meticulous with his judgments and behaviors, so he never has to be responsible for her pain.”
– Unknown
“I have believed the best of every guy. I find that to believe is enough to make a bad guy show him at his best, or even a good man swings his lamp higher.”
— William Butler Yeats
“It is his personality, not his station, that creates the excellent man.”
— Publilius Syrus
“A man should be able to hear, and to suffer, the worst that might be said of him.”
— Saul Bellow
“It is part of a decent man to accomplish big and honorable things, albeit he risk everything.”
– Plutarch
“The mark of a true man is a guy who can allow himself to fall profoundly in love with a woman.”
– C. JoyBell C.
Positive Nice Guy Quotes
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moment of comfort and ease, but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
“If there is something that a guy can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.”
— Abraham Lincoln
“Men are not slaves of destiny, but rather prisoners of their own minds.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Real guys don’t dance to other people’s song, instead, they play for others to dance.”
— Michael Bassey Johnson
“Be not terrified of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help produce the fact.”
— William James
“It is not the circumstance which creates the man, but the man who makes the situation.”
– Frederick William Robertson
“It takes a really fine guy to be better than no one at all.”
— Dixie Carter
“A powerful guy doesn't have to be aggressive toward a woman. He doesn't match his power against a lady weak with love for him. He compares it against the world.”
- Marilyn Monroe
“The biggest illusion folks endure is from their own opinions.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
“Consider yourself fortunate for having met him, because he’s the type of guy who’ll prove you right.”
— Nicholas Sparks
“A decent man does not scout about for the dark spots in others, but marches unswervingly on towards his mark.”
— Marcus Aurelius
“The grandeur of a man is not in how much riches he gets, but in his integrity and his capacity to touch others around him positively.”
— Bob Marley
“A decent man and a wise man may at times be furious with the world, at times sorrowful for it; but be sure no one was ever discontented with the world who did his job in it.”
— Robert Southey
“He was such a wonderful guy that people dreaded to see him coming.”
- Mark Twain
“Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can deliver. It’s about how many you can take, and yet keep going forward.”
— Sylvester Stallone (in the movie Rocky) (in the movie Rocky)
Nice Man Quotes to Unleash Your True Potential
“Being a decent man is not an exam or a certification, it evolves, and it encompasses being a good friend, a good parent, a good employee, a good boss, a good neighbor, and a good citizen.”
– A.A. Gill
“But man is not built for defeat. A man may be destroyed but not defeated.”
— Ernest Hemingway
“Men are like steel. When they lose their fury, they lose their worth.”
— Chuck Norris
“There is nothing noble being superior to your fellow man; genuine nobility is being superior to your past self.”
— Ernest Hemingway
“He who ceases getting better quits being good.”
— Oliver Cromwell
“The difference between the impossible and the doable rests in a man’s determination.”
— Tommy Lasorda
“A guy who is not a good friend to himself cannot be so to anybody else.”
— John Lubbock
“First discover the man in yourself if you wish inspire manliness in others.”
— Thomas Alcott
“It cannot, nevertheless, be disputed, that a decent man is more deserving of love than a bad one.”
- Martin Luther
“A successful man is one who can create a sturdy foundation with the bricks others have hurled at him.”
— David Brinkley
“My future’s about striving to be a better man.”
— Terrence Howard
“Progress is done in isolation; profit is made in public.”
— Sven Schnieders
“Strength, bravery, mastery, and honor are the alpha qualities of men all across the world.”
— Jack Donovan
“You may win some, you might lose some. But you go in, you push yourself, you become a better guy, a better person, a better fighter.”
— Conor McGregor
“A superior guy is humble in his discourse, but excels in his actions.”
– Confucius
“Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what occurs to you.”
— Aldous Huxley
Nice Man Quotes to Build Your Character
“A gentleman will open doors, pull out seats, and carry things. Not because she’s weak or incapable, but because he wants to show her that she is valued and deserving of respect.”
— Charles J. Orlando
“A decent guy will want you to shine. He wants you to be your awesome self. A nice guy likes to show off his joyful, educated, wonderful, strong woman.”
— Anastasia Netri
“You can determine a man’s actual character by the way he treats his fellow animals.”
— Paul McCartney
“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”
- Bruce Lee
“Adversity toughens masculinity, and the feature of the excellent or the great man is not that he has been immune from the horrors of life, but that he has overcame them.”
— Patrick Henry
“Great men do not perform stage tricks with the concepts of life and death: only lesser men do that.”
— John Ruskin
“The excellent guy does not sorrow that other people do not appreciate his virtues. His main fear is that he may fail to perceive theirs.”
– Confucius
“The decent man is the guy who, no matter how morally worthless he has been, is working to become better.”
— John Dewey
“Strength does not come from winning. Your trials strengthen your talents. When you go through trials and resolve not to succumb, that is strength.”
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
“Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, since your character is what you actually are, while your reputation is only what people believe you are.”
— John Wooden
“If you’re open, you’re vulnerable – but susceptible to being transformed and to becoming a better man.”
— Rege-Jean Page
“A virtuous guy will never injure or oppress another. A decent man would share his last piece of food with those in need, and die of hunger when he no longer has any food - instead than cheat or steal from others to live. Selflessness. Humility. Truthfulness. These are the three characteristics of an honest man.”
— Suzy Kassem
“The ultimate gauge of a man's character is the health of his wife.”
— Cyril Connolly
“We are all ready to be ferocious in some cause. The difference between a good guy and a terrible one is the choice of the cause.”
— William James
“A kind man will discover that there is goodness in the world; an honest man will find that there is honesty in the world; and a man of principle will find principle and integrity in the hearts of others.”
— Albert Pike
“If you make the sacrifice of completing your duty, you do not have to do anything else. Committed to duty, man attains perfection.”
— Bhagavad Gita
“The stronger a guy is, the more gentle he can afford to be.”
— Elbert Hubbard
More Nice Men Quotes and Sayings
“You should think in such a manner that anybody could peer into your soul and see what is transpiring there.”
– Seneca
“If you want to conquer the entire world, overcome yourself.”
— Fyodor Dostoevsky
“The job an unknown decent guy has done is like a vein of water running buried underneath, stealthily turning the land green.”
— Thomas Carlyle
“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
“If you are terrified of the sunshine, you ain't a nice guy!
”
- Mehmet Murat Ildan
“A man needs to carry himself in the world like an orange tree would if it could stroll up and down in the yard — swinging aroma from every small censer it holds up to the air.”
— Henry Ward Beecher
“A true guy loves his wife, and views his family as the most essential thing in life. Nothing has offered me greater serenity and joy in life than just being a decent spouse and father.”
— Frank Abagnale
“Forget about what other guys are doing. Concentrate all your energy on becoming better than your past self.”
— Ella Brown
“Do you know what a soldier is, young man? He's the guy who makes it feasible for civilized persons to loathe war.”
— Allan Massie
“A decent man's prayers will from the darkest dungeon ascend heaven's height, and bring a blessing down.”
— Joanna Baillie
“If a decent guy can't sleep after harming others, then he should study much more to be a leader.”
- Toba Beta
“The finest years of your life are the ones in which you determine your troubles are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecosystem, or the president. You know that you control your own destiny.”
— Albert Ellis
“Work hard, be honest, assist others, never give up, love your fellow man and woman, give back to society, and don’t ever discriminate.”
— Jesse White
Short Good Guy Quotes
“Every man of bravery is a man of his word.”
— Pierre Corneille
“I feel the first test of a genuinely great guy is in his humility.”
— John Ruskin
“What you aim at impacts what you see.”
— Jordan Peterson
“Just because you are a kind person, doesn't imply you are a decent man.”
— Zyanya Torres
“Young fellow, the key of my success is that at early age I learned that I was not God.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Let the excellent guy you've been designed to be out; the world incomplete without him.”
— Eric M. Watterson
“The actual power of a man lies in the magnitude of the grin of the lady sitting next to him.”
– Unknown
“A wise man becomes free when he is ready to die at any moment.”
— Diogenes
“Well being is acquired by little and little, yet nonetheless is no tiny thing itself.”
— Citium Zeno
“Only a decent guy would stand up for what is right even when it’s not convenient or easy.”
— Rip Miller
“It takes a strong guy to accept someone else’s children and stand up to the plate another man placed on the table.”
— Ray Johnson
“A guy may fail many times but he isn’t a failure until he starts to blame someone else.”
— John Burroughs
“Death and love are the two wings that carry the virtuous man to heaven.”
– Michelangelo
“All wealth belongs to him who has a satisfied mind.”
- The Panchatantra
“Men’s biggest triumphs come after their disappointments.”
— Henry Ward Beecher
“The guy who lifts a mountain starts by bringing away little stones.”
- Confucious
“If you want to rescue the world, save your tiny part of the globe.”
— Naval Ravikant
If you enjoyed these nice guy quotes then share them with a friend, family member or co-worker that may find them useful and motivating through social media or email.
Want even more encouragement to help you live your best life? Check out this article with concentrate on yourself quotes, this one with bravery quotes plus this one that's all about keep pushing quotes.
Join the conversation