The nice and the good

Nice people will not harm you, unless you mean nice as in 'oh he's such a nice boy' read: repressed, conservative and boring.

Since then I've tried to be a right bastard.

N.B. I am not having this turn into another why do women like bastards thread.

I think maybe I'm nice but not very good. I try to avoid causing pain or upset, but don't actively go out and change the world for the better very much. So in the 'if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem' slogan sense, I am rubb, but in the 'if everyone was like me' (what a terrible thought) formula, I am maybe OK.

Nice in the 'not horrible' sense is only a good thing and you should be proud to be described as such Chris. Of course if peoplee had listened to their English teachers they would have employed a much better and more descriptive word for you.

Or I just do small things like giving money to homeless people or having a No Logo induced guilt fit when shopping. I donate to certain charities, but never try to change the world.

Fritz - can you flesh out your conception of someone who is 'nice and bad'?

I'm not sure what you're asking when you wonder if there's an equivalent word when the archaic definition of nice=ignorant -- equivalent to what word?

Anyway, it couldn't hurt to look at a dictionary definition. Try www.m-w.com

I think the notion that nice people cause you grief and ruin could be related to entries 6 & 7 in the m-w dictionary -- "nice" as a synonym for "respectable," "socially acceptable," "well-bred," etc. which may be Wildean codewords for hypocritically polite and insincere pharisees who are overly concerned with maintaining correct outward form while failing to tend to the inner corruption.

My stereo just broke.

nice once meant fastidious, but it eventually drifted elsewhere until it meant mildly pleasant or unobjectionable. to call someone or something nice is to grant it a sliver of mealy-mouthed praise. good is made of much sturdier stuff and demands a higher standard of excellence. All hail the good people and things in life!