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Good News and Inspiring Quotes

Good News and Inspiring Quotes

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Forest Gump – Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get
the Daily Quote Podcast

Forest Gump – Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get

byAndrew McGivernNovember 29, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
L.M. Montgomery – The nicest days are not those on which anything splendid or wonderful happens…
the Daily Quote Podcast

L.M. Montgomery – The nicest days are not those on which anything splendid or wonderful happens…

byAndrew McGivernNovember 28, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Meister Eckhart – If the only prayer you said was ‘thank you,’ that would be enough
the Daily Quote Podcast

Meister Eckhart – If the only prayer you said was ‘thank you,’ that would be enough

byAndrew McGivernNovember 27, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Julia Child – A party without cake is just a meeting
the Daily Quote Podcast

Julia Child – A party without cake is just a meeting

byAndrew McGivernNovember 26, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Carl Sandburg – Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep
the Daily Quote Podcast

Carl Sandburg – Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep

byAndrew McGivernNovember 25, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Galileo Galilei – Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe
the Daily Quote Podcast

Galileo Galilei – Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe

byAndrew McGivernNovember 24, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Albert Einstein – I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
the Daily Quote Podcast

Albert Einstein – I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.

byAndrew McGivernNovember 23, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Ralph Waldo Emerson – It’s not the destination, it’s the journey
the Daily Quote Podcast

Ralph Waldo Emerson – It’s not the destination, it’s the journey

byAndrew McGivernNovember 22, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
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Philip Rosenthal – You know what happens when you say ‘hello’ or ‘good morning?’ You make a connection. And isn’t that what being human is all about?
the Daily Quote Podcast

Philip Rosenthal – You know what happens when you say ‘hello’ or ‘good morning?’ You make a connection. And isn’t that what being human is all about?

byAndrew McGivernNovember 21, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
Read More
Loretta LaRoche – Stressed spelled backwards is desserts
the Daily Quote Podcast

Loretta LaRoche – Stressed spelled backwards is desserts

byAndrew McGivernNovember 20, 2025February 19, 2026
Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a…
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the Daily Quote – Positive Daily Inspiration and Motivational Quote of the Day
the Daily Quote – Positive Daily Inspiration and Motivational Quote of the Day

Tune in daily to get a short dose of daily inspiration to kick start your day in a positive way.

the Daily Quote brings you inspirational quotes to help motivate and inspire your day with positivity.
Listen to the show for positive quotes from Albert Einstein, Maya Angelo, Seth Godin, Tony Robbins, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr, John Lennon, William Shakespeare, Lao Tzu, Confucius and more…

Every single day you will hear a motivational quote to fire up your day.

Kurt Vonnegut – “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
byAndrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day

Welcome to the Daily Quote, the podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host Andrew McGivern and this episode is brought to you by the Great News podcast. Link is in the show notes.

Today's quote comes from Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, satirist, and one of the most singular literary voices of the 20th century. He wrote it as the moral of his novel Mother Night and introduced it with characteristic Vonnegut honesty:

”This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. I don't think it's a marvelous moral; I simply happen to know what it is.”

The moral is this:

”We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

Most people encounter this quote as a piece of motivational wisdom, an encouragement to act as if you're already the person you want to become. And that reading is valid. There's real truth in it.

The research on identity-based behaviour, the psychology of role adoption, James Clear's voting metaphor, all of it points in the same direction. Pretend long enough, consistently enough, and the pretending becomes the being. But

Vonnegut wasn't writing a motivational quote. He was writing a warning. Mother Night tells the story of Howard Campbell, an American spy who infiltrates the Nazi propaganda machine, broadcasting vile ideology to millions while secretly embedding coded messages for the Allied forces. He tells himself throughout that it doesn't matter what he says, because he knows who he really is on the inside. The performance is just a performance. The pretending is just pretending.

Except it isn't. Vonnegut's point is that the separation between how we act externally and who we really are is imaginary. Our character consists in our actions, and this distinction is simply a fig leaf. Campbell becomes what he pretends to be. The costume fuses to the skin. The role becomes the man.

This is the double edge of the quote, and what makes it so much more interesting than a simple call to positive thinking. Yes, pretending to be disciplined eventually makes you disciplined. Pretending to be confident eventually makes you confident. Pretending to be generous eventually makes you generous. The becoming is real. But so is the other direction.

Pretending to be someone who cuts corners eventually makes you someone who cuts corners. Pretending that small dishonesties don't matter eventually makes you someone to whom they don't. Pretending to be indifferent to the people around you eventually makes you indifferent. The costume always fuses to the skin in the end, for better or for worse.

Vonnegut's warning is simply this: the pretending is never neutral. It is always, quietly, becoming.This quote made me think carefully about what I'm pretending to be in the small, daily moments nobody sees — because those are the ones that actually shape the answer. Not the big public declarations of intent. The quiet daily performance of who I'm choosing to be in the moments that feel too small to matter. Because

Vonnegut is right — they all count. They're all becoming something. The question is just whether I'm paying attention to what.So here's the question. What are you deliberately pretending to be that you want to grow into? Because keep going , the becoming is real and it's already happening. And what are you pretending doesn't matter, that quietly, gradually, is making you into someone you didn't choose to be? Because the costume always fuses to the skin. The pretending always becomes the being. Vonnegut knew it. Howard Campbell learned it too late. We are what we pretend to be. Choose the pretending carefully.

That's it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern — I'll see you in the next one with another Daily Quote.

Kurt Vonnegut – “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
Kurt Vonnegut – “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”
May 6, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Jean-Paul Sartre – “Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.”
May 5, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Dan Sullivan – “Your eyes can only see and your ears can only hear what your brain is looking for.”
May 4, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Martin Short -“No one is any one thing.”
May 3, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Colin Kaepernick – “Pressure comes from a lack of preparation.”
May 2, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Paulo Coelho – “Do something instead of killing time because time is killing you.”
May 1, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Alice Morse Earle – “Not every day is good, but there is good in every day.”
April 30, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Unknown – “Be smart. Notice everything. But act like you know nothing.”
April 29, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Carl Jung – “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”
April 28, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
Arthur Schopenhauer – “What the herd hates most is a person who thinks differently.”
April 27, 2026
Andrew McGivern - Motivational Quotes and Daily Inspiration | Quote of the Day
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Great News | Inspiring Stories, Positive Developments and Good News
Great News | Inspiring Stories, Positive Developments and Good News

The Great News Podcast is your source for positive news, inspiring stories, and good news from around the world. We skip the doom and gloom of mainstream media to focus on scientific breakthroughs, environmental wins, and the inspiring news that proves the world is getting better. Join Andrew McGivern for a dose of optimism and uplifting stories that will change your perspective on human progress.
It is easy to find the
Keep looking for the good in the world, because it is not only there – its everywhere.

Laser-Fast Internet and Epigenetic Health
byAndrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration

The Great News podcast is brought to you by the Daily Quote.

Today, a discovery that could turn our oceans into a source of clean, green fuel. That's our lead story today.

Plus, we’ll look at a ”molecular staple” for hard-to-treat cancers, a way to silence cholesterol without permanently altering your DNA, and a wireless system that’s twice as efficient as Wi-Fi.

Turning Sunlight and Seawater into Hydrogen

How Stapled Peptides Could Change Cancer Treatment

Turning Off Bad Genes

How Laser Tech Is Rewriting the Rules of WirelessAnd don’t forget to stick around for the speed round where we’ll celebrate a historic victory against an ancient disease.Chile Eliminates Leprosy

Revolutionizing Brain Research and Treatment!

China’s Gigantic Battery

How CAR T Therapy Is Learning to Fight Cancer Smarter

If you like the Great News Podcast, you will love the Great News Letter. Because the Great News Podcast is Great but the Great News Letter is Greater!

The Great News Letter is an email newsletter that you can subscribe to for FREE and get all the good news delivered to your email inbox.

For this episode we got some feedback from Brian de V. You can leave feedback for the show too by going to greatnewspodcast.com/feedback.

Or if you listen in Spotify – leave a comment right there as you listen.

Until next time… and there will be a next time.

Keep looking for the good in the world because no only is it there, its everywhere!

Laser-Fast Internet and Epigenetic Health
Laser-Fast Internet and Epigenetic Health
April 14, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
The Longevity Revolution: Replicating Decades of Aging and Turning Nuclear Waste into Power
April 9, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Reversing Blindness with Cellular Rejuvenation and the Beating Heart-on-a-Chip
April 1, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Self-Spreading CRISPR and the Sun Battery That Outperforms Lithium-Ion
March 18, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Cancer-Eating Bacteria, 10-Passenger Flying Taxis, and the First Moon Harvest
March 9, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Can We Bottle the Sun? Plus the AI Tool Outperforming Doctors in Rare Disease Diagnosis
March 7, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Lower Crime and More Energy
March 3, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Saving the Banana and Reversing Brain Aging
February 28, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
Mushroom Boxes and Bacterial Mating
February 25, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
How AI is Designing Custom Antibodies and Curing Cancer
February 21, 2026
Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
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    • Good News
    • the Daily Quote
    • Great News Podcast
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • GREAT NEWS RESOURCES
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      • Great People
      • Great Podcasts
      • Subscribe
      • Privacy Policy | TOS

    Kurt Vonnegut – “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

    byAndrew McGivernMay 6, 2026May 6, 2026

    Jean-Paul Sartre – “Only the guy who isn’t rowing has time to rock the boat.”

    byAndrew McGivernMay 5, 2026

    Dan Sullivan – “Your eyes can only see and your ears can only hear what your brain is looking for.”

    byAndrew McGivernMay 4, 2026

    Martin Short -“No one is any one thing.”

    byAndrew McGivernMay 3, 2026May 3, 2026
    Copyright © 2026 Great News Podcast Theme: News Post By Artify Themes.
    Laser-Fast Internet and Epigenetic Health
    byAndrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration

    The Great News podcast is brought to you by the Daily Quote.

    Today, a discovery that could turn our oceans into a source of clean, green fuel. That's our lead story today.

    Plus, we’ll look at a ”molecular staple” for hard-to-treat cancers, a way to silence cholesterol without permanently altering your DNA, and a wireless system that’s twice as efficient as Wi-Fi.

    Turning Sunlight and Seawater into Hydrogen

    How Stapled Peptides Could Change Cancer Treatment

    Turning Off Bad Genes

    How Laser Tech Is Rewriting the Rules of WirelessAnd don’t forget to stick around for the speed round where we’ll celebrate a historic victory against an ancient disease.Chile Eliminates Leprosy

    Revolutionizing Brain Research and Treatment!

    China’s Gigantic Battery

    How CAR T Therapy Is Learning to Fight Cancer Smarter

    If you like the Great News Podcast, you will love the Great News Letter. Because the Great News Podcast is Great but the Great News Letter is Greater!

    The Great News Letter is an email newsletter that you can subscribe to for FREE and get all the good news delivered to your email inbox.

    For this episode we got some feedback from Brian de V. You can leave feedback for the show too by going to greatnewspodcast.com/feedback.

    Or if you listen in Spotify – leave a comment right there as you listen.

    Until next time… and there will be a next time.

    Keep looking for the good in the world because no only is it there, its everywhere!

    Laser-Fast Internet and Epigenetic Health
    Episode play icon
    Laser-Fast Internet and Epigenetic Health
    April 14, 2026
    Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
    Episode play icon
    The Longevity Revolution: Replicating Decades of Aging and Turning Nuclear Waste into Power
    April 9, 2026
    Andrew McGivern | Good News Podcast Host - Positive News and Inspiration
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