Incidentally, how the heck does one "bounce down"?
"At the time, I thought this just made him feel better about himself. Over time, I’ve seen the wisdom in what he said."
No, you were right the first time. "The good ones" and "the bad ones"? I feel sorry for the "ones", period.
However, I still don't see how you can back up your claims that good employees seem to recover better than bad employees. I don't see how you could know!
You'll be surprised at the number of times you encounter folk you've worked with again. I suspect you're also more likely to stay in touch or hear more about the "good" employees.
As an employer you should do what best for all the people at the company, but do not kid yourself into thinking "good people" will recover and move on to a better place. It might happen and they will go on to fortune and fame. It might also be the final brick in the wall. That is just a nice way of making yourself feel better in this situation.
Many of the people I've let go fit this pattern. I always tried to do what I could to help them use the firing as a way of "bouncing up" (although I don't think I was very successful).
FWIW, I used to follow the careers of the first few people I let go. Not sure why exactly - combination of guilt and curiosity. I bet doing so is pretty common with younger founders / executives.