... is there any difference betweeh them? For me, they are worlds apart, in that I know a lot of "nice people" but they are not necessarily "good". You can be "nice" for lots and lots of reasons, but for me, being "good" means that you have no alternative motive for your actions. It always seem so hard to find people who are good within ... (I know that "nice" is an overused words etc, but we won't enter that argument).
"Unless" by Carol Shields deals with the issues of goodness superbly.