I really believe I've been a good person. Not perfect - forget about perfect - but just learning by what I was... — Kiri Te Kanawa

I really believe I've been a good person. Not perfect - forget about perfect - but just learning by what I was taught and living by my own values. I might have stepped on a few ants - and a few other things as well - but I've never hurt anybody.

Author: Kiri Te Kanawa

Insight: There's something quietly radical about Kiri Te Kanawa's claim here. She's not asking for a saint's crown or claiming some spotless moral record. Instead, she's drawing a line between the inevitable small harms we cause just by existing—the metaphorical ants we step on—and the deliberate wounding of people we actually care about or depend on. Most of us get tangled up trying to be flawless. We obsess over tiny mistakes, assume a single wrong move disqualifies us from being "good," or swing the other way and give up entirely because nobody's perfect anyway. But Kiri's offering something different: a grounded middle path. Being a good person isn't about achieving perfection; it's about genuinely trying to live by your values and, crucially, not using harm to others as your method of survival or success. You can make mistakes, cause unintended damage, and still maintain your integrity. The tricky part she leaves unsaid is knowing which things actually constitute "hurting somebody"—because that line moves depending on context, relationships, and what people need from us. But the principle holds: goodness is measured not by perfection, but by whether you're genuinely trying and whether your actions show respect for the people around you.