On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good and not quite all the time.

The line wryly captures Orwell’s suspicion of moral absolutism and his attention to everyday human compromise. It suggests that most people prefer decency in principle, but resist the costs of consistent virtue—self-denial, social friction, or political risk. “Not too good” implies a desire to remain within the comfort of ordinary life rather than aspire to saintliness; “not quite all the time” points to the intermittent nature of conscience when it collides with appetite, fear, or convenience. The remark fits Orwell’s broader critique of ideologies that demand perpetual purity, implying that workable ethics must account for human limits and the temptations of hypocrisy.