Dictionary

the good die young en · X

Etymology

Variant of the Latin Quem di diligunt adulescens moritur ("whom the gods love dies young"), from Plautus's Bacchides, apparently adapted from a line in Dis Exapaton (The Double Deceiver) by Menander.

Meanings

1. Well-regarded people who are morally upright, kind, and beneficent tend to die at a younger age than do most people.
   • "You'll live," put in Mr. Pedagog, with a chuckle. "The good die young." 1895, John Kendrick Bangs, chapter 9, in The Idiot:
   • [I]t is the men and women with vices who have ruled the world. The good die young because there is no useful work for them to do. 1906, E. Phillips Oppenheim, The Malefactor, Book 1, ch. 12:
   • "The good die young," is a favorite, sardonic saying of General Don Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau, Marquess of Tenerife, Grandee of Spain, long famed among U. S. citizens as "Butcher Weyler" because of his ruthless military governorship of Cuba, prime cause of the Spanish-American war (1896-97). In Madrid last week the doughty "Butcher," now aged 91, arose fully convalescent from a sickness during which Death had been expected hourly for weeks. "Pah!" growled he. "My doctors, my family had no cause for alarm. I had only pneumonia!" 1930 April 14, “Weyler Well”, in Time, retrieved 10 Apr 2014:
   • A 28-year-old pregnant woman was killed and a second woman was seriously injured on Friday afternoon when a driver, apparently intoxicated and following the women as they walked down a Midtown Manhattan street, lost control of a supermarket maintenance van. . . . “It hasn’t really sunk in,” said Ms. Ramos’s sister. . . . “The good die young,” she said. 2009 March 28, Anahan O'Connor, Colin Moynihan, “Pregnant Woman Killed When Van Jumps Curb”, in New York Times, retrieved 10 Apr 2014:

Forms

Relateds

a creaking door hangs longest · nice guys finish last

Translations (10)

ko 나무도 쓸 만한 것이 먼저 베인다 (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · cmn 好人不長命 /好人不长命 (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · ko 착한 사람이 요절한다 (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · ko 둏은 나무부터 띡히구 못 쓰는 낭그느 깉는다 (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · ko 곧은 나무 쉬 꺾인다 (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · fr les meilleurs partent toujours les premiers (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · sv den gudarna älskar dör ung (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · pl dobrzy umierają młodo (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · fi hyvät ihmiset kuolevat nuorena (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age) · ko 착한 사람은 요절한다 (Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age)