Meanings
alternative only the good die young
- 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 Idiot3 more examples
[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 2014A 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
Origin
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: ὅν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὅν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος
- ὅν οἱ θεοὶ φιλοῦσιν ἀποθνῄσκει νέος (hón hoi theoì philoûsin apothnēískei néos)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
Chinese Mandarin 好人不長命 /好人不长命
- 好人不長命 /好人不长命 (hǎorén bù chángmìng)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
Finnish hyvät ihmiset kuolevat nuorena
- hyvät ihmiset kuolevat nuorenaWell-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
French les meilleurs partent toujours les premiers
- les meilleurs partent toujours les premiersWell-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
Korean 착한 사람은 요절한다, 착한 사람이 요절한다
- 착한 사람은 요절한다 (chakhan sarameun yojeolhanda)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
- 착한 사람이 요절한다 (chakhan sarami yojeolhanda)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
- 둏은 나무부터 띡히구 못 쓰는 낭그느 깉는다 (dyoeun namubuteo ttikhigu mot sseuneun nanggeuneu ginneunda)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
- 나무도 쓸 만한 것이 먼저 베인다 (namudo sseul manhan geosi meonjeo beinda)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
- 곧은 나무 쉬 꺾인다 (godeun namu swi kkeokkinda)Well-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
Polish dobrzy umierają młodo
- dobrzy umierają młodoWell-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
Swedish den gudarna älskar dör ung
- den gudarna älskar dör ungWell-regarded people tend to die at a younger age
Cite this entry
the good die young. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20good%20die%20young
“the good die young.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20good%20die%20young. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “the good die young,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/the%20good%20die%20young.
Source: the good die young on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.