Nice Guy Syndrome Quotes

If it pains you to discover that a Nice Man can be a crumbum, Tom, it's life you've got to object to, not Percy in particular. ~ Ellery Queen

The trick to realize that the boys who talk so much about being rejected that it seems like the're proud of it aren't necessarily sweeter or more sensitive than the Bababooey-spouting frat bullies who line up at clubs like SkyBar to run game on girls they want to date rape. There are plenty of nerds who fear women and aren't sensitive, despite their marketing; they just dislike women in a new, exciting way. Timid racists aren't sensitive because they lock their car doors when they see a black person on the street. They're just too scared to get out of the car and shout the "N" word.

Fear can be the result of admiration, or it can be a symptom of contempt. When I see squeamish guys passing over qualified women when they're hiring for a job, or becoming tongue tied when a girl crashes their all-boy conversation at a party, I don't give them credit for being awestruck. They're reacting to the intimidating female as an intruder, an alien, and somebody they can't relate to. It's not a compliment to be made invisible. ~ Julie Klausner

It's sweet and everything, but it's like you're not even there sometimes. It's great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn't need a shoulder? What if they need the arms or something like that? You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can't. You have to do things."
"Like what?" I asked. My mouth was dry.
"I don't know. Like take their hands when the slow song comes up for a change. Or be the one who asks someone for a date. Or tell people what you need. Or what you want. ~ Stephen Chbosky

I think it's very sad that CNN leads Jeb Bush, down a road by starting off virtually all the questions, "Mr. Trump this, Mister" - I think it's very sad. I watched the first debate, and the first long number of questions were, "Mr. Trump said this, Mr. Trump said that. Mr. Trump" - these poor guys - although, I must tell you, [Rick] Santorum, good guy. Governor [Mike] Huckabee, good guy. They were very nice, and I respect them greatly. But I thought it was very unfair that virtually the entire early portion of the debate was Trump this, Trump that, in order to get ratings, I guess. ~ Jeb Bush

In theater, there's a lot of discipline involved in doing eight shows a week for a year and a half. It's nice to be able to bring some of that bag of tools with you over to the film world, where you don't have the rehearsal, you don't have an audience. You don't have a month of rehearsal to examine these words, and you meet the guy who's going to play your brother the morning that you shoot the scene. So you need a bag of tools. ~ William Sadler

Imagine for a moment that I live
right here, was born here, that my parents always
have had a shop here, and on Boulevard
du Temple there's a bistro with a nice

young waitress - I'll be there. Imagine that
there's no such thing as Eastern Europe, no
cellars for hiding neighbors, no transports,
no round-ups, never any dreams of going

from house to house - for a moment suppose
it looks like this: a cat stretches its neck
in sunlight on a porch, a secret game
of chess unfolds between the waitress and

that guy. He tracks her moves, she brings him coffee,
as if by chance her hip jostles the board.

T. Rózycki, Colonies
translated by Mira Rosenthal ~ Tomasz Różycki

Why is it that women are the only ones who will write perfect men into fiction? It's strange. If a man portrayed his fictional men as archangels, the feminists would throw back their heads and howl, "UNFAIR!" but we women will create our own Mr. Darcy's and Mr. Knightley's and defy anyone who would point out their unrealistic points. The men aren't the ones crazy about Pride and Prejudice. Obviously they don't find perfect men realistic and honest enough to bother reading about. We don't write perfect women characters, do we? No. Our women all have bad tempers, or resentful hearts, or scabby pasts, or hidden fears--things that make them real. It's because we're easy on ourselves and aren't trying to boast perfection because we know we don't measure up. Then why do we hold men to a different standard?..... I'd caution all writers to make sure that your male "hero" in your story has his own flaws. You don't want a one-dimensional character. You don't want a perfect man that will drive away other men from reading the book.

Look to the men in your life. The men around you. Look to your brothers and fathers and pastors and neighbors. Your uncles and the guy down the street. Goodness--look to Taylor the Latte Boy if you must, but let's cast aside the Perfect-Man syndrome. ~ Rachel Heffington

I'm actually a really nice guy, once you get to blow me. ~ Anthony Jeselnik

Bombino's a super modest guy, very nice. His whole crew is a bunch of characters and he's definitely the Grand Poobah. I don't think the other guys are that much younger than him, but he definitely feels like the wise man; you just sort of get that sense when you're around him. He doesn't say that much but he's humble and well-respected. ~ Dan Auerbach

I remember we were out on the road when the album finally came out in February 1973. I listened to it in my hotel room and just got this really big smile. I was thinking, 'It's amazing, we're really pulling this off'. The album was very, very unique and very, very different. I was really proud of the songs, especially 'No More Mr Nice Guy', 'Billion Dollar Babies' and 'Generation Landslide'. ~ Michael Bruce

I really liked it." She covers her mouth in horror.
"If I like sex, do you think it means I can't be a feminist?"
"No." I shake my head. "Because being a feminist
I think it means being in charge of your sexuality. You decide who you want to have sex with. It means not trading your sexuality for ... other things."
"Like marrying some gross guy who you're not in love with just so you can have a nice house with a picket fence."
"Or marrying a rich old geezer. Or a guy who expects you to cook him dinner every night and take care of the children," I say, thinking of Samantha.
"Or a guy who makes you have sex with him whenever he wants, even if you don't," Miranda concludes.
We look at each other in triumph, as if we've finally solved one of the world's great problems. ~ Candace Bushnell

I'm a breakfast type of guy. Don't get me wrong. I can cook, I'm kinda nice on the burner, but I enjoy making breakfast. I do it all ... Scrambled eggs ... French toast ... Pancakes ... Breakfast is my thing. ~ Ja Rule

But whatever happens, when you leave London you feel like a winner because it's a great venue and it's so nice to be there with all the guys. ~ Guy Forget

I find it very hard to play a part, then take it off like a cheap suit and become Mr Normal - Mr. Nice Guy. ~ Jimmy Nail

I'm sure the driver was a great guy and all he wanted was to drive me to my hotel - but he was a complete stranger to me and the truth is that being vigilant isn't a part-time job, it's not about being nice to people, it's about reality. I made a terrible mistake once, believing the monsters that want to hurt us are easily labeled and identified, rather than walking and hiding amongst us. That's my reality. ~ Tucker Elliot

It's always really cool when you get to play with someone who you like and they go out of their way to be nice to you; it's not just a 'oh I played with them but I didn't meet them' sort of situation, so shout out to those guys for being awesome. ~ Hoodie Allen

He considered her request before answering, and she could tell he was enjoying this. Jay loved this particular weakness of hers. "You can guess, but I'm still not telling."
"What if I guess right?"
"Then you'd be pretty freakin' amazing."
She pretended to be offended. "So, what if I don't figure it out . . . ?"
His uneven grin made an appearance. "You're still pretty freakin' amazing, Violet." He lifted her hand, pressing it lightly to his lips.
Violet felt herself blushing. She knew how to handle his teasing, but she still hadn't gotten used to this gentler, sweeter side of him.
"You're such a girl," she chided, but somehow the words came out too soft . . . too tender, and ended up sounding like a compliment.
Jay just laughed. "So what does that make you, the guy?" He squeezed her hand even tighter, keeping it buried in his.
"Or some sort of lesbian," she teased, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe we should try out a little girl-on-girl action."
"Nice, Violet. Do you kiss your mom with that mouth?" His eyes glinted as he watched her.
She leaned closer to him in the darkness of the car's interior. "No, but I'll kiss you with it."
He set her hand back in her lap. "Watch it, Vi, or I might pull over right now and we'll never make it there."
She raised her eyebrows. "Make it where?"
"Nice try, but you can't distract me that easily . . . it's still a surprise. ~ Kimberly Derting

Contrary to the cliche', genuinely nice guys most often finish first or very near it. ~ Steve Forbes

For a moment I can't help thinking how decent he is - that there's some hope for him beyond the obnoxious image he displays. Maybe deep down he is a sensitive guy, who sees us as real people with real issues. I want to say something nice. Some kind of thanks. I stand there, rehearsing it in my mind.
"Oh my God," he says, "did you see that girl's tits?"
Maybe not today. ~ Melina Marchetta

You can be a nice guy that wants to kill himself. ~ Oliver Sykes

Are you going to be nice to me now?"
"I'm always nice to you." Sure. Law ground his chin into Tom's groin, making
Tom jump.
"Why would I suddenly start being nice to you?" Law said. "You put out for an asshole. That guy is still here. ~ Jez Morrow

You've got to play with that killer instinct, man. You've got to hate that guy across from you. Then after the game is over, tell him what a nice guy he is. Shake his hand. Especially if you win. ~ Chuck Bednarik

Whatever," said Nagasawa. "But Watanabe's practically the same as me. He may be a nice guy, but deep down in his heart he's incapable of loving anybody. There's always some part of him somewhere that's wide awake and detached. He just has that hunger that won't go away. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. ~ Haruki Murakami

People say I'm hard, I'm Mr Angry. I'm this, I'm that. I just want to win matches. There's no point going out there and being Mr Nice Guy. We get 55,000 at Old Trafford and I don't think they want fellas going out there and thinking: Ah, if we lose, so what? ~ Roy Keane

A married guy is responsible for everything, no matter what. Women, thanks to their having been oppressed all these years, are blameless, free as birds, and all the dirt they do is the result of premenstrual syndrome or postmenstrual stress or menopause or emotional disempowerment by their fathers or low expectations by their teachers or latent unspoken sexual harassment in the workplace, or some other airy excuse. The guy alone is responsible for every day of marriage that is less than marvelous and meaningful. ~ Garrison Keillor

Since when do the media care about the disabled? I don't remember a lot of gnashing of teeth when Fox's Family Guy made fun of Sarah Palin's Down syndrome child, Trig. They ~ Ann Coulter

[P]eople think of compassion as, like, kindness. The image comes to mind of some nice New Age guy bending to something with a look on his face like he's about to cry. And I don't think that's it. I think of it more as a quality of openness that comes with being in a state of unusual attentiveness. ~ George Saunders

Tom carried with him a glass full of wine, which clearly hadn't been his first of the evening. He swaggered and swayed as he started to speak, and his eyes, while not quite at half mast, were certainly well on their way.
"In my mind," Tom began, "this is what love is all about."
Sounded good. A little slurred, but it was nice and simple.
"And…and…and in my mind," Tom continued, "in my mind, I know this is all about…this is all love here."
Oh dear. Oh no.
"And all I can say is that in my mind," he went on, "it's just so great to know that true love is possible right now in this time."
Crickets. Tap-tap. Is this thing on?
"I've known this guy for a long, long time," he resumed, pointing to Marlboro Man, who was sitting and listening respectfully. "And…in my mind, all I have to say is that's a long…long time."
Tom was dead serious. This was not a joke toast. This was not a ribbing toast. This was what was "in his mind." He made that clear over and over.
"I just want to finish by saying…that in my mind, love is…love is…everything," he continued.
People around the room began to snicker. At the large table where Marlboro Man and I sat with our friends, people began to crack up.
Everyone except Marlboro Man. Instead of snickering and laughing at his friend--whom he'd known since they were boys and who, he knew, had recently gone through a rough couple of years--Marlboro Man quietly motioned to everyone at our table with a tactfu ~ Ree Drummond

Craig was a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but he was so low-key that once I'd gotten to know him, I was almost completely unable to have even imaginary conversations with him while cooking his recipes. Around ~ Nora Ephron

Subject: Some boat
Alex,
I know Fox Mulder. My mom watched The X-Files. She says it was because she liked the creepy store lines. I think she liked David Duchovny. She tried Californication, but I don't think her heart was in it. I think she was just sticking it to my grandmother, who has decided it's the work of the devil. She says that about most current music,too, but God help anyone who gets between her and American Idol.

The fuzzy whale was very nice, it a little hard to identify. The profile of the guy between you and the whale in the third pic was very familiar, if a little fuzzy. I won't ask. No,no. I have to ask.

I won't ask.

My mother loves his wife's suits.

I Googled. There are sharks off the coast of the Vineyard. Great big white ones. I believe you about the turtle. Did I mention that there are sharks there? I go to Surf City for a week every summer with my cousins. I eat too much ice cream. I play miniature golf-badly. I don't complain about sand in my hot dog buns or sheets. I even spend enough time on the beach to get sand in more uncomfortable places. I do not swim. I mean, I could if I wanted to but I figure that if we were meant to share the water with sharks, we would have a few extra rows of teeth, too.

I'll save you some cannoli.
-Ella

Subject: Shh
Fiorella,
Yes,Fiorella. I looked it up. It means Flower. Which, when paired with MArino, means Flower of the Sea. What ~ Melissa Jensen

You're not the type of man to fuck," she countered.
His brows shot up. "Oh really? I'm too nice of a guy?"
"Something like that."
"I'm a man, Megan. We all have needs. Isn't fucking one of them?"
Her body trembled slightly at his words. She licked her lips before replying, "S-Stop saying that word-it isn't you."
"So fucking isn't me? Don't tell me you think I'm totally asexual – that you can't imagine me fucking a woman…fucking you." He eased in closer to her. "We both know for a fact that you wanted nothing more than to fuck me the night of Noah's baptism. Given the chance right now, you'd let me strip off your scrubs and fuck you up against the medicine cabinet. ~ Katie Ashley

I was anxious to get started, There was so much anticipation. I wanted to get in the routine
of playing games. It was just nice to be on a team, not competing against these guys in camp [but] trying to
work together to win. ~ Sidney Crosby

You lost my interest, you aren't a nice guy and very nasty guy. ~ Deyth Banger

Here was this really nice guy who happened to be uber-shy ... and with just a little encouragement, he was suddenly smiling and joking and having fun. Really, what had taken them so long? ~ Melody Carlson

But then in middle school science, Mr. Martinez asked who among us had ever fantasized about living in the clouds, and everyone raised their hand. Then Mr. Martinez told us that up in the clouds the wind blew one hundred and fifty miles an hour and the temperature was thirty below zero and there was no oxygen and we'd all die within seconds."
"Sounds like a nice guy."
"He specialized in the murder of dreams, Hazel Grace.let me tell you. You think volcanoes are awesome? Tell that to the ten thousand screaming corpses at Pompeii. You still secretly believe that there is an element of magic to this world? It's all just soulless molecules bouncing against each other randomly. Do you worry about who will take care of you if your parents die? As well you should, because they will be worm food in the fullness of time. ~ John Green

It's nice to have writers write nice things about you and guys on radio and TV say nice things about you, but the guy who's in the locker next to you is the one you play the game for. ~ Joe Torre

But he was more than swoon-worthy hot guy. Cam was charming,nice,sweet,and funny. He was the kind of guy you wanted to bring home and show off-the kind of guy who was never single for too long and the one you fell head over in heels in love with. ~ J. Lynn

I'm from New York, I'm 53, I have my moments when I'm a nice guy, and more frequently I have my moments where I'm a middle-aged aggravated person. For years I was always the nice guy, so in life I had to pretend to be the nice guy. ~ John Schneider

When did you stop drawing penises on stuff?"

He snorted. "What?"

"Like, how old were you when you stopped drawing penises on stuff? I was just thinking how great a guy roommate would be and I realized the only downside would be finding penises drawn in the steam on the bathroom mirror."

His dimpled smile made me grin.

"I just drew a penis on Brandon's truck the other day."

I laughed. "So men never outgrow it. Nice."

He smiled at me. "Is this really what you're standing there thinking about?"

"Welcome to my brain. Strap in and keep your arms inside the ride at all times. ~ Abby Jimenez

Brutality is boring. Over and over, hell night after hell night, the same old dumb, tedious, bestial routine: making men crawl; making men groan, hanging men from the bars; shoving men; slapping men; freezing men in the showers; running men into walls; displaying shackled fathers to their sons and sons to their fathers. And if it turned out that you'd been given the wrong man, when you were done making his life unforgettably small and nasty, you allowed him to be your janitor and pick up the other prisoners' trash.
There was always another prisoner, and another. Faceless men under hoods: you stripped them of their clothes, you stripped them of their pride. There wasn't much more you could take away from them, but people are inventive: one night some soldiers took a razor to one of Saddam's former general in Tier 1A and shaved off his eyebrows. He was an old man. "He looked like a grandfather and seemed like a nice guy," Sabrina Harman said, and she had tried to console him, telling him he looked younger and slipping him a few cigarettes. Then she had to make him stand at attention facing a boom box blasting the rapper Eminem, singing about raping his mother, or committing arson, or sneering at suicides, something like that⁠ - these were some of the best-selling songs in American history.
"Eminem is pretty much torture all in himself, and if one person's getting tortured, everybody is, because that music's horrible," Harman said. The general maintained his bearing a ~ Philip Gourevitch

Because if it didn't start out right, it's never going to be right. It's like going out with a guy you don't find attractive; no matter how nice he is, you're never gonna want to fuck him. ~ Kenny Shopsin

Dru Anderson: Thanks.
Graves: No problem. First one's free. Look, you really can't go home? What happened.
Dru Anderson: You wouldn't believe me if I told you.
Graves: Try me.
Dru Anderson: I just can't go home, not until tomorrow.
Graves:Do you need a place to sleep?
Dru Anderson: I'll find somewhere.
Graves: I know a place.
Dru Anderson: Why is it there's always a guy who thinks he can get something out of the new girl? Every goddamn town, it's the same thing. Some guy thinks he's God's gift to the displaced.
Graves: I just asked if you wanted a place to sleep, Jesus.
Dru Anderson: Sorry.
Graves: No problem. So, I'll take you someplace you can sleep tonight. Someplace safe. Okay?
Dru Anderson: How much?
Graves: I keep telling you, first one's free. You want to play some air hockey? Good way to get your mind off stuff.
Dru Anderson: Sure.
Graves: Cool. You finished?
Dru Anderson: Yeah, I guess. Graves?
Graves: Huh?
Dru Anderson: Thanks. Nice gloves.
Graves: Hey, you know. Chicks dig guys in gloves. ~ Lilith Saintcrow

Walking home's going to be...interesting half dressed." Alan mused as he dropped the shirt over the lip of the sink.
Shelby shot a look over her shoulder, but the retort she had in mind slipped away from her.He was lean enough so she could have counted his ribs, but there was a sense of power and endurance in the breadth of his chest and shoulders, the streamlined waist. His body made her forget any other man she'd ever seen.
It had been he,she realized all at once, whom she'd been thinking of when she'd thrown the clay into that clean-lined bowl.
Shelby let the first flow of arousal rush through her because it was as sweet as it was sharp. Then she tensed against it, rendering it a distant throb she could control.
"You're in excellent shape," she commented lightly. "You should be able to make it to P street in under three minutes at a steady jog."
"Shelby, that's downright unfriendly."
"I thought it was more rude," she corrected as she struggled against a grin. "I suppose I could be a nice guy and throw it in the dryer for you."
"It was your clay."
"It was your move," she reminded him, but snatched up the damp shirt. "Okay, come on upstairs." With one hand, she tugged off her work apron, tossing it aside as she breezed through the doorway. "I suppose you're entitled to one drink on the house."
"You're all heart," Alan murmured as he followed her up the stairs.
"My reputation for generosity precedes me. ~ Nora Roberts

As actors, the great thing about our career is we get to change from role to role. I don't want to be known as "put him in the movie because he has nice abs" guy. ~ Anthony Mackie

Tom Hanks is a huge superstar. And people tell me he's a very nice guy, not arrogant, not an entitlement guy. But very quietly, Mr. Hanks has become a left-wing power player in Hollywood. ~ Bill O'Reilly

They're playing my favorite song." He swept her into his arms and began to move with her around the floor.
The honky-tonk music was something low and bluesy.
Marilee looked up into his face. 'I don't recognize this song.What is it?"
He gave her that soulful smile. "I don't know.But from now on it's going to be my favorite."
She felt her heart stutter.
He closed both arms around her, drawing her close.
She knew that everyone in the saloon was watching. At the moment, she didn't care. She couldn't think about anything except the press of his body to hers.The feel of those strong, muscled arms around her.The warmth of his thighs molded to hers.The touch of his mouth against her temple,his warm breath feathering her hair.
"This is nice." His voice vibrated through her, sending a series of delicious tingles along her spine.
"Yeah." She looked up into his eyes and could feel herself drowning in them.
She was melting all over him, with the entire town watching. She could actually feel her heart beginning to drum in her temples.
She knew she ought to draw back, but she couldn't.She didn't want the song to end.Or this night.
Oh,hell.Just look at her. She was falling for a footloose rebel with a smooth line who'd probably left a trail of broken hearts from Toledo to Timbuktu. The kind of guy she'd made a career of staying as far away from as possible. And here she was. Falling hard. Willingly. Right in front of the entire town.And ~ R.C. Ryan

No. I'm done with it. Dating...is apparently not for me."
"So, what, you're just going to do hookups?"
"No, I can't do that. The whole 'emotional connection' thing. God, I'm a girl."
"You're definitely not a girl. You're a nice guy whose dick is just tightly connected to his heartstrings. Nothing wrong with that. I'm actually kind of envious. ~ B. Snow

It's nice being liked for playing the nice guy, but it's also fun to be the funny one. ~ Matt McGorry