- “It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives.” — Anthony Robbins
- “If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.”—S oren Kierkegaard
- “The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.”—William James
- “My deepest belief is that living as if you are dying sets us free.” —Anne Lamott
- “Death comes to all, but great achievements build a monument which shall endure until the sun grows cold.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” —Abraham Lincoln
- “Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself.” —John MacNaughton
- “Man should not consider his material possessions his own, but common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need.” —Thomas Aquinas
- “One fifth of humanity lives in countries where many people think nothing of spending $2 a day on a cappuccino. Another fifth of humanity survives on less than $1 a day and lives in countries where children die for want of a simple anti-mosquito bed net.” —The United Nation's Human Development Report as reported in The Guardian
- “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” —J.K. Rowling
- “The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a life well spent is eternal.” —Cicero,
- “I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure.” —John D. Rockefeller
Quotes on Concern for Others
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Quotes on Giving Your All
Quotes on Helping Others
Points to Ponder on Kindness
Resolve to make at least one person happy every day, and then in ten years you may have made three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy, or brightened a small town by your contribution to the fund of general enjoyment. --Sydney Smith The sun makes ice melt; kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate. --Albert Schweitzer Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. —Laozi Kindness is worth more than beauty. --Jean d’Arras Kindness gives birth to kindness. --Sophocles The best portion of a good man’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love. --William Wordsworth A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves. --Amelia Earhart Help thy brother’s boat across, and lo! Thine own has reached the shore. --Indian proverb I would go to the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary. --Charles Spurgeon Wise sayings often fall on barren ground; but a kind word is never thrown away. --Sir Arthur Helps Be kind. Remember that everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. —Harry Thompson Wherever there is a human being there is a chance for kindness. --Seneca We cannot be just unless we are kindhearted. --Luc de Clapiers Vauvenargues The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. --William James Kind words do not cost much … yet they accomplish much. --Blaise Pascal A good deed is never lost.—He who sows courtesy, reaps friendship; he who plants kindness, gathers love. --Basil of Caesarea Kind words are the music of the world. They have a power which seems to be beyond natural causes, as though they were some angel’s sons which had lost their way and come to earth.--Frederick Faber Treat a man as he appears to be, and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be. --Johann von Goethe Thoughts to Ponder on Goodness
It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. —Benjamin Franklin Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can. —John Wesley Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier. —Albert Schweitzer Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this; that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it. —Mikhail Bakunin In life, you can never do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. —Ralph Waldo Emerson Goodness is love in action, love with its hand to the plow, love with the burden on its back, love following His footsteps who went about continually doing good. —James Hamilton Do not say that if the people do good to us, we will do good to them; and if the people oppress us, we will oppress them; but determine that if people do you good, you will do good to them; and if they oppress you, you will not oppress them. —Muhammad Points to Ponder on the Importance of and Our Relationship and Responsibility to Nature
God made the forests, the tiny stars, and the wild winds—and I think that he made them partly as a balance for that kind of civilization that would choke the spirit of joy out of our hearts. He made the great open places for the people who want to be alone with him and talk to him, away from the crowds that kill all reverence. And I think that he is glad at times to have us forget our cares and responsibilities that we may be nearer him—as Jesus was when he crept away into the wilderness to pray.—Margaret Elizabeth Sangster We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.—Mother Teresa The universe is but one vast symbol of God.--Thomas Carlyle The world is God’s epistle to mankind. His thoughts are flashing upon us from every direction.--Plato The world is the first Bible that God made for the instruction of man.--Clement of Alexandria God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. —Martin Luther I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.—George Washington Carver And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.—William Shakespeare The Bible is best read and understood outdoors, and the farther outdoors the better. Or that has been my experience of it. Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible, outdoors seem merely natural. That is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders; we see that the miraculous is not extraordinary, but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread. Whoever really has considered the lilies of the field or the birds of the air, and pondered the improbability of their existence in this warm world within the cold and empty stellar distances, will hardly balk at the turning of water into wine—which was, after all, a very small miracle. We forget the greater and still continuing miracle by which water (with soil and sunlight) is turned into grapes.--Wendell Berry Nature is the art of God.—Dante Alighieri Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere. —Ralph Waldo Emerson I’ve always regarded nature as the clothing of God.—Alan Hovhaness Love all God’s creation, the whole of it, love every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light! Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. And once you have perceived it, you will be able to comprehend it ceaselessly more and more every day. --Fyodor Dostoevsky Every flower of the field, every fiber of a plant, every particle of an insect, carries with it the impress of its Maker, and can—if duly considered— read us lectures on ethics or divinity.--Thomas Pope Blount The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator. --Louis Pasteur “What is this God?” I asked the earth, and it answered, “I am not He,” and all things that are in the earth made the same confession. I asked the sea and the deeps and the creeping things, and they answered, “We are not your God; seek higher.” I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and they answered, “Neither are we the God whom you seek.” And I said to all the things that throng about the gateways of the senses, “Tell me something of Him.” And they cried out in a great voice, “He made us.” My questions were my gazing upon them, and their answer was their beauty. I asked the whole frame of the universe about my God and it answered me, “I am not He, but He made me.” --Saint Augustine of Hippo God our heavenly Father, You created the world to serve humanity’s needs and to lead them to You. By our own fault we have lost the beautiful relationship which we once had with all Your creation. Help us to see that by restoring our relationship with You we will also restore it with all Your creation. Amen.—Saint Francis of Assisi A quote a day helps you remember what’s important.
Here are this week’s quotes on changing the world.
Quote of the day:
“The vocation of every man and woman is to serve other people.” — Leo Tolstoy Reflection: One of the central questions that philosophers and theologians have struggled with for millennia is the mystery of what gives life meaning. Everyone wants to be happy and fulfilled, but how can we tell what true happiness is and where it comes from? The ancient Greeks believed that the source of happiness was internal and could be cultivated by living a worthwhile life. They called this state eudaimonia. Aristotle described it as taking part in activities that draw on our talents and challenge our abilities, acting in ways that benefit others, and guiding our lives by principles and virtues. It isn’t enough to simply possess an ability or disposition--eudaimonia requires it to be put into action with deeds. The more we learn to put others at the center of our thoughts and actions, the more meaning and purpose our lives will have. Quote of the day:
“Remember, there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple.” — Scott Adams Reflection: In my writings, I often speak about making a difference and helping others. I encourage you to do more for others, but I don’t often give practical examples. Today I share one such example with you—an excerpt from Anna Perlini, co-founder of Per un Mondo Migliore, a humanitarian organization in the Balkans. This is an illustration of an alternative lifestyle choice to escape the frustrations of our greed base society. Ivan and Francesca often expressed their frustration in trying to adjust to a society that was losing its values. They wished they could adopt a different lifestyle, but didn’t know how. Then, on one of my more recent visits, it was immediately obvious that something was very different. For one thing, their dining room had extra tables, which quickly filled with what seemed like a river of lively children from the neighborhood. Ivan was busy serving and introduced me to Claudio and Manuela, another couple who not only lived in their small town, but also shared a similar vision. Later on, I got to know other families who were also part of a network called Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale (Ethical Purchasing Groups). The aim is to cooperate in order to buy food and other commonly used goods directly from producers or retailers at discounted rates, while also emphasizing the use of local and fair-trade produce, and reusable or eco-compatible goods. Ivan and Francesca (and their now three children) were some of the founders of the local branch, and needless to say, they always found a way to direct some love and attention to their “neighbor near or far.” “If we want a message of love to get to others, we need to send it. If we want a lamp to keep burning, we need to keep feeding it oil.” As time passes, it’s clear that what was once an experiment has grown into a tried-and-proven alternative life choice. I’m not suggesting that we all start Ethical Purchasing Groups but it is good food for thought—how one couple changed their little part of the world for the better.
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