* "Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contibute the best that they have and all that they are." -- Hafsat Abiola

* Social advance depends as much upon the process through which it is secured as upon the result itself. -- Jane Addams

"It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them."
-- Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
-- Louisa May Alcott

How can one not speak about war, poverty and inequality when people who suffer from these afflictions don't have a voice to speak?
-- Isabel Allende

"Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind."
-- Henri Frederick Amiel

There is only one way of not hating those who do us wrong, and that is by doing them good.
-- Henri Amiel

 

"Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation or social standards never can bring about reform. Those who are really in earnest are willing to be anything or nothing in the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathies with despised ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences." -- Susan B. Anthony

* The effect of one good-hearted person is incalculable. -- Oscar Arias Sanchez

"Do every act of your life as if it were your last."
-- Marcus Aurelius

We look into mirrors but we only see the effects of our times on us ­ not our effects on others.
-- Pearl Bailey

“To work in the world lovingly means that we are defining what we will be for, rather than reacting to what we are against.”
-- Christina Baldwin

"Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always try to be a little kinder than is necessary."
-- Sir James M. Barrie

It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich. -- Henry Ward Beecher

* "To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival." -- Wendell Berry

Can I see another's woe, And not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, And not seek for kind relief?
-- William Blake

 

* When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined. -- Bono

* There is no time left for anything but to make peace work a dimension of our every waking activity. -- Elise Boulding

Not being able to do everything is no excuse for not doing everything you can.
-- Ashleigh Brilliant

"All that a pacifist can undertake - but is a very great deal - is to refuse to kill, injure or otherwise cause suffering to another human creature, and untiringly to order his life by the rule of love though others may be captured by hate."
-- Vera Brittain

The pacifist's task today is to find a method of helping and healing which provides a revolutionary constructive substitute for war.
-- Vera Brittain

Charity should begin at home, but should not stay there.
-- Philip Brooks

In striving for the best, in losing onself in others, one is lifted above the common material furniture of life, above the gaudy trappings and encumbering paraphenalia... into the realm of peace which passeth understanding.
-- Olympia Brown (1835-1926)

 

* You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings. -- Pearl S. Buck

"Believe nothing merely because you have been told it...Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide."
-- Buddha

Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.
--Buddha

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
-- Buddha

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
-- Edmund Burke

When you stop giving and offering something to the rest of the world, it's time to turn out the lights.
-- George Burns

In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of executioners.
--Albert Camus

Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.
-- Dale Carnegie

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.
-- Dale Carnegie

 

* A simple and proper function of government is just to make it easy for us to do good and difficult for us to do wrong. -- Jimmy Carter

* Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place. -- Rosalynn Carter * There is clearly much left to be done, and whatever else we are going to do, we had better get on with it. -- Rosalynn Carter

* How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. ~ George Washington Carver

* "Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it." -- Pablo Casals

* To the wrongs that need resistance, To the right that needs assistance, To the future in the distance, Give yourselves. -- Carrie Chapman Catt When a just cause reaches its flood tide - whatever stands in the way must fall before its overwhelming power -- Carrie Chapman Catt * Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life. -- Carrie Chapman Catt

* "Our lives are to be used and thus to be lived as fully as possible, and truly it seems that we are never so alive as when we concern ourselves with other people." -- Harry Chapin

Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it.
-- Chinese Proverb

* Service is the rent you pay for room on this earth. -- Shirley Chisholm "Most Americans have never seen the ignorance, degradation, hunger, sickness, and futility in which many other Americans live...They won't become involved in economic or political change until something brings the seriousness of the situation home to them." -- Shirley Chisholm

We get to make a living; we give to make a life.
-- Winston Churchill

"Of neighborhoods, benevolence is the most beautiful. How can the man be considered wise who when he had the choice does not settle in benevolence."
-- Confucius

"He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own."
-- Confucius

“There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. The essence of these needs is captured in the phrase 'to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy'. The need to live is our physical need for such things as food, clothing, shelter, economical well-being, health. The need to love is our social need to relate to other people, to belong, to love and to be loved. The need to learn is our mental need to develop and to grow. And the need to leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, personal congruence, and contribution”
-- Stephen R. Covey

“We are all angels with only one wing. We can only fly while embracing each other.”
-- Luciano de Crescenzo

 

* If compassion was the motivating factor behind all of our decisions, would our world not be a completely different place? -- Sheryl Crow

* If compassion was the motivating factor behind all of our decisions, would our world not be a completely different place? -- Sheryl Crow

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.
-- Marie Curie

 

* …So, take what's inside you and make big, bold choices. And for those who can't speak for themselves, use bold voices. And make friends and love well, bring art to this place. And make this world better for the whole human race. -- Jamie Lee Curtis

I believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world.
-- The Dalai Lama

"We have a responsibility to look after our planet. It is our only home."
-- The Dalai Lama

* Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. -- The Dalai Lama * I believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world. -- The Dalai Lama

* "It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live."
-- The Dalai Lama

* "I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. We must all learn to work not just for our own self, family, or nation but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources, and through concern for future generations, the proper care of the environment."
-- The Dalai Lama

If I'm going to die, the best way to prepare is to quiet my mind and open my heart. If I'm going to live, the best way to prepare for it is to quiet my mind and open my heart.
-- Ram Dass (1890-1925)

"Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.

Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death. "
-- Eugene V. Debs

 

It is when you have done your work honestly, when you have contributed your share to the common fund that you begin to live. -- Eugene V. Debs

"If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain. If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain."
-- Emily Dickinson

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
-- Annie Dillard

A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan that is put off. Do the best you can, but do it today.
-- John Di Frances

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
-- Laertius Diogenes

Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
-- Benjamin Disraeli

 

* "Change starts when someone sees the next step." -- William Drayton

Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can.
-- Henry Drummond

 

* “Now is the accepted time, not tomorrow, not some more convenient season. It is today that our best work can be done and not some future day or future year. It is today that we fit ourselves for the greater usefulness of tomorrow. Today is the seed time, now are the hours of work, and tomorrow comes the harvest and the playtime.” -- W. E. B. DuBois

"Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow -- perhaps it all will."
-- Ecclesiastes

* "You can achieve much in life if you don't mind doing the work and giving someone else the credit." -- Marian Wright Edelman

"A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure as I have received and am still receiving." -- Albert Einstein * "Only a life lived for others is worth living." -- Albert Einstein "The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." -- Albert Einstein

* "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
-- Albert Einstein

* Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.
-- Albert Einstein

"It is never too late to be what we might have been."
-- George Eliot

"Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds."
-- George Eliot

 

* "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson * You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson * "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

* "Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

* It is not length of life, but depth of life.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
-- Edward Everett

Speak, move, act in peace…
-- Francois Fenelon (1651-1715)

Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.
-- Paulo Feire

* Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace! Where there is hatred let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon. -- Saint Francis of Assisi

* As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence. -- Benjamin Franklin * Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves. -- Benjamin Franklin * Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. -- Benjamin Franklin * Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none. -- Benjamin Franklin

* Each year one vicious habit discarded,
in time might make the worst of us good.
-- Benjamin Franklin

* It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.
-- Benjamin Franklin

* Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.
-- Benjamin Franklin

* Well done is better than well said.
-- Benjamin Franklin

Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.
-- Erich Fromm

* "Be the change you wisht to see in the world." -- Mohandas K. Gandhi "If one does not practice nonviolence in one's own personal relations with others and hopes to use it in bigger affairs, one is vastly mistaken." -- Mohandas Gandhi * The future depends on what we do in the present. -- Mohandas Gandhi

* The future depends on what we do in the present. -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
-- Mohandas Gandhi

 

* "You have to do the right thing... You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result." -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

Evil (ignorance) is like a shadow. It has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it.
-- Shakti Gawain

"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but manifestations of strength and resolution."
-- Kahil Gibran

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.
-- Kahlil Gibran

If someone listens, or stretches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen.
-- Loretta Girzaitis (b. 1920)

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
-- Vincent Van Gogh

You cannot rectify every real or alleged wrong immediately. Time must enter into the picture.
-- Justice Arthur Joseph Goldberg

Be tough in the way a blade of grass is: rooted, willing to lean, and at peace with what is around it.
-- Natalie Goldberg

 

* "Never be discouraged from being an activist because people tell you that you'll not succeed. You have already succeeded if you're out there representing truth or justice or compassion or fairness or love." -- Doris Haddock (Granny D)

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it."
-- George Halas

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
-- Edward Everett Hale

 

* Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment. -- Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926)

"We often think of peace as the absence of war; that if the powerful countries would reduce their arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds - our prejudices, fears, and ignorance. Even if we transported all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the reasons for bombs would still be here, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we would make new bombs. Seek to become more aware of what causes anger and separation, and what overcomes them. Root out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately and mindfully."
-- Thich Nhat Hanh

 

* The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility. -- Vaclav Havel

"Our lives are fed by kind words and gracious behavior. We are nourished by expressions like 'excuse me' and other such simple courtesies...Rudeness, the absence of the sacrament of consideration, is but another mark that our time-is-money society is lacking in spirituality, if not also in its enjoyment of life."
-- Ed Hays

Make a habit of two things--to help, or at least, to do no harm.
-- Hippocrates

Prayer indeed is good, but while calling on the gods a man should himself lend a hand.
-- Hippocrates

If you love an idea, an idea that is larger than yourself, then love it with all your heart; love it enough to act on it. Love it enough to put it into the world. . Don't give up until you do.'
-- Juliet Hollister, founder of the Temple of Understanding

Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.
-- Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC

 

* Oh, my friend, it's not what they take away from you that counts - it's what you do with what you have left. -- Hubert Humphrey

 

Instead of proving to be "labor saving devices," our machines create more work for more of us to do! Instead of the "problem" of leisure, we face an array of problems caused by overwork; families that erode because we have less time to be at home, troubled and troubling young people who share little or no time with adults, anemic communities bled dry of the people's time, their life's blood, and institutions that focus solely on teaching people how to work rather than how to live together freely.
-- Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt

 

* This is my creed: Happiness is the only good; reason the only torch; justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll

"This is my chosen fast: to loosen all the bonds that bind humans unfairly, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry, take the homeless into your homes, clothe the naked when you see him/her, do not turn away from people in need. Then cleansing life shall break forth like the dawn, and your wounds shall soon be healed. Your triumph shall go before you and your Lord’s glory shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call and the Lord will answer. "
-- Isaiah 57

“One man of courage makes a majority.”
-- Andrew Jackson

I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet. -- Jesse Jackson

"I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big success. I am for those tiny, invisible loving human forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, which, if given time, will rend the hardest monuments of pride."
-- William James (1842-1910)

There is but one unconditional commandment ... to bring about the very largest total universe of good which we can see.
-- William James (1842-1910)

"Through our willingness to help others we can learn to be happy rather than depressed."
-- Gerald Jampolsky

 

* "Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly." -- Thomas Jefferson * Every human being feels pleasure in doing good to another. -- Thomas Jefferson

There are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that we can solve alone.
-- Lyndon Baines Johnson

"My address is like my shoes. It travels with me. I abide where there is a fight against wrong." -- Mother Jones

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."
-- Janis Joplin

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it....
-- Michael Jordan

Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good. They told us to treat all people as they treated us; that we should never be the first to break a bargain; that is was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should speak only the truth; that it was a shame for one man to take another's wife or his property without paying for it. -- Chief Joseph (1732-1794) * Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. -- Chief Joseph (1732-1794)

"I find life an exciting business and most exciting when it is lived for others." -- Helen Keller * The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. -- Helen Keller * The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves. -- Helen Keller

* The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. -- Helen Keller

* Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain, life is not in vain.
-- Helen Keller

* And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us ... will be measured by the answers to four questions: First, were we truly men of courage... Second, were we truly men of judgment... Third, were we truly men of integrity... Finally, were we truly men of dedication? -- John F. Kennedy, 1961

And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us, recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state, our success or failure, in whatever office we hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions: First, were we truly men of courage... Second, were we truly men of judgment... Third, were we truly men of integrity... Finally, were we truly men of dedication?
-- John F. Kennedy, 1961

* There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not? -- Robert F. Kennedy (paraphrase of quote by George Bernard Shaw)

A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror.
-- Ken Keyes, Jr.

"It seems essential, in relationships and all tasks, that we concentrate only on what is most significant and important."
-- Soren Kierkegaard

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
-- Soren Kierkegaard

* "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?" -- Martin Luther King, Jr. "The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. * Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular- but one must take it simply because it is right. -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

* The time is always right to do what is right.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

* Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"There are some things concerning which we must always be maladjusted if we are to be people of good will. We must never adjust ourselves to racial segregation. We must never adjust ourselves to religious bigotry. We must never adjust ourselves to economic conditions that take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.”
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't believe that winning is really everything. It's more important to stand for something. If you don't stand for something, what do you win?
-- Lane Kirkland

We have come too far, -- struggled too long, -- sacrificed too much and have too much left to do, -- to allow that which we have achieved for the good of all to be swept away without a fight. And we have not forgotten how to fight.
-- Lane Kirkland

* "Don't become too narrow. Live fully. Meet all kinds of people. You'll learn something from everyone. Follow what you feel in your heart." -- Yuri Kochiyama

"In the long run, we get no more than we have been willing to risk giving."
-- Sheldon Kopp

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
-- Ann Landers

The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
-- Lao Tzu

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.
-- Lucy Larcom

"I am frustrated with people who say that there is nothing you can do about a particular issue and thus, do very little. I do not want to be like that." . -- Emma Leslie

* It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. -- Abraham Lincoln * The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just. -- Abraham Lincoln * With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds. -- Abraham Lincoln

And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
-- Abraham Lincoln

"To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own."
-- Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

"When I dare to be powerful -- to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid."
-- Audre Lorde

"Each one of us should lead a life stirring enough to start a movement."
-- Max Lucado

How do we become true and good, happy and genuine, joyful and free? Only by getting in touch with good, true, happy, genuine human beings, only by seeking the company of the strong and the free, only by catching spontaneity and freedom from those who are themselves spontaneous and free.
-- Charles Malike (1906-1988)

Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity
-- Horace Mann

The true way to soften one's troubles is to solace those of others.
-- Madame De Maintenon

"Do every act of your life as if it were your last."
-- Marcus Aurelius

 

* “None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody - a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns - bent down and helped us pick up our boots.” -- Thurgood Marshall

“What is the quality of your intent? Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent. My intent will be evident in the results.”
-- Thurgood Marshall

"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
-- Matthew 7:12

"If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now."
-- Mildred McAfee

"Make no judgements where you have no compassion."
-- Anne McCaffrey

So, I think that’s the centerpiece of morality: Don’t lie. But to do that, you have to go a step further and find out what the truth is. You know, it’s easy to say, “I’ll never tell a lie.” But if you say, “I’m going to speak the truth,” you’re going to have to work damn hard to find out what the truth is. The next thing is just plain, old, simple kindness: to other people, to your family. Love for other people. I think that’s another very important part of morality, being genuinely compassionate and concerned about the feelings and well being of other people, especially those that depend on you directly. -- George McGovern

"I can honestly say that I was never affected by the question of the success of an undertaking. If I felt it was the right thing to do, I was for it regardless of the possible outcome."
-- Golda Meir

"When you forgive, you in no way change the past -- but you sure do change the future."
-- Bernard Meltzer.

"We may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving."
-- Bernard Meltzer.

"Blessed are those who give without remembering. And blessed are those who take without forgetting."
-- Bernard Meltzer

"Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all times you can
To all the people you can
As long as you can."
-- Bernard Meltzer (My Golden Rule)

"If you have learned how to disagree without being disagreeable, then you have discovered the secrete of getting along -- whether it be business, family relations, or life itself."
-- Bernard Meltzer.

"Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid."
-- Bernard Meltzer

Start doing the things you think should be done, and start being what you think society should become. Do you believe in free speech? Then speak freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it. Do you believe in an open society? Then act in the open. Do you believe in a decent and humane society? Then behave decently and humanely.
-- Adam Michnik

A person's true wealth is the good he or she does in the world.
-- Mohammed

"Fear less, hope more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Hate less, love more; And all good things are yours."
--Jean Baptiste Moliere

"Something which we think is impossible now is not impossible in another decade."
-- Constance Baker Motley (First Black Woman in the U.S. to become a Federal Judge)

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.
-- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche

 

* My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. -- Thomas Paine

Each person must live their life as a model for others. -- Rosa Parks * Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others. -- Rosa Parks

When you become detached mentally from yourself and concentrate on helping other people with their difficulties, you will be able to cope with your own more effectively. Somehow, the act of self-giving is a personal power-releasing factor.
-- Norman Vincent Peale

I'm not a do-gooder. It embarrassed me to be classified as a humanitarian. I simply take part in activities that I believe in. -- Gregory Peck

You make a living by what you earn, but you make a life by what you give.
-- Lowell Perry

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."
--Albert Pike

"Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me."
-- Alexander Pope, The Universal Prayer, 1738

To live for results would be to sentence myself to continuous frustration. My only sure reward is in my actions and not from them.
-- Hugh Prather

"If you think the efforts of one individual will be nothing, then you have never been to bed with a mosquito".
~ Betty Reese

There is no greater calling than to serve your Brother. And, no greater satisfaction than to have done it well.
-- Walter Reuther

 

* Don't let yesterday use up too much of today. -- Will Rogers

"Let a good person do good deeds with the same zeal that an evil person does bad ones."
-- Shalom Rokeach

* The motto of war is: "Let the strong survive; let the weak die." The motto of peace is: "Let the strong help the weak to survive." --Franklin Delano Roosevelt

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
-- J. K. Rowling

"Let the beauty we love be what we do."
-- Rumi

Listen with regard when others talk. Give your time and energy to others; let others have their own way; do things for reasons other than furthering your own needs.
- Larry Scherwitz

 

* We must do what we conceive to be the right thing, and not bother our heads or burden our souls with whether we are going to be successful. Because if we don't do the right thing, we'll be doing the wrong thing, and we will just be part of the disease, and not a part of the cure. -- E.F. Schumacher

* "A man can do only what a man can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day." -- Albert Schweitzer "The purpose of human life is to serve and show compassion and the will to help others." -- Albert Schweitzer

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph."
-- Haile Selassie

"Wherever there is a human being there is an opportunity for kindness"
-- Seneca

"A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer."
-- Seneca

There is no short cut to a place worth going.
-- Beverly Sills

"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success."
-- Swami Sivanada

Let be the future: mind the present need and leave the rest to whom the rest concerns … present tasks claim our care: the ordering of the future rests where it should rest.
-- Sophocles (496-406BC)

The only thing for a pacifist to do is to find a substitute for war.
-- Freya Stark

 

* "I am also very proud to be a liberal. Why is that so terrible these days? The liberals were liberators—they fought slavery, fought for women to have the right to vote, fought against Hitler, Stalin, fought to end segregation, fought to end apartheid. Liberals put an end to child labor and they gave us the five day work week! What's to be ashamed of?" -- Barbra Streisand

We are rich only through what we give, and poor only through what we refuse.
-- Anne Sophie Swetchine

"When a blind man carries a lame man, both go forward."
-- Swedish proverb.

May you live all the days of your life.
-- Jonathan Swift

“Whoever saves a single soul, it is as if he had saved the whole world.”
-- Talmud

"Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of his own family and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of his family. Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of his community and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of his community. Whoever is able to protest against the transgressions of the entire world and does not do so is punished for the transgressions of the entire world."
-- Talmud

 

* It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though the limits of our abilities do not exist. -- Pierre Teilhard De Chardin * The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one's self to others. -- Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

* We don't need bombs and guns to destroy, to bring peace - just get together, love one another, bring that peace, that joy, that strength of presence of each other in the home. And we will be able to overcome all the evil that is in the world. -- Mother Teresa * Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something. -- Mother Teresa

“Life is a place of service, and in that service one has to suffer a great deal that is hard to bear, but more often to experience a great deal of joy. But that joy can be real only if people look upon their lives as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” -- Leo Tolstoy

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."
-- Harry Truman

* I think my mission is to become the greatest human I can. I know that sounds pompous, but what else do we have? -- Kathleen Turner

* "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." --Archbishop Desmond Tutu

* Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -- Mark Twain * Always do right - this will gratify some and astonish the rest. -- Mark Twain

Giving to others selflesly and anonymously, radiating light throughout the world and illuminating your own darkness, your virtue becomes a sanctuary for yourself and all beings.
-- Lao tzu (570-490 BC)

"Give help rather than advice."
-- Luc de Vauvenargues

 

* The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being. -- Lech Walesa

* Activism is the rent I pay for living on this planet. -- Alice Walker

* In proportion as one renders service he becomes great. -- Booker T. Washington

* "My satisfaction comes from my commitment to advancing a better world." -- Faye Wattleton

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.
-- Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)

"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."
-- George Washington

 

* "None of us alone can save the nation or world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so." -- Cornel West

Re-examine all you have been told... Dismiss what insults your Soul ~ Walt Whitman

For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.
-- John Greenleaf Whittier

"With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see."
-- Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

* Compassion is more important than intellect in calling forth the love that the work of peace needs, and intuition can often be a far more powerful searchlight than cold reason. -- Betty Williams

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.
-- Ella Williams

* And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others. -- Marianne Williamson

"As we give of our time, talents and resources to tend the needs of the sick, offer food to the hungry and teach the dependent to stand on their own, we enrich ourselves spiritually beyond our ability to comprehend."
-- Joseph B. Wirthlin (1924-)

"Little kindnesses...will broaden your heart, and slowly you will habituate yourself to helping your fellow man in many ways."
--Zadik