QUOTES
For Volunteers

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* 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

"Volunteers are not servants. Volunteers are partners working together for improving America's future."
-- Mayor Richard Daly

* Older, younger, anyone can help. We've learned that our legislators listen, and people with passionate and thoughtful concerns make a difference every day. We've had constituents initiate legislation, lobby for it, organize meetings and events, and, of course, call, mail, e-mail and visit legislators to express their views. It's really great to see how much difference that individuals can make.
-- Doris Day

* 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

"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

 

* “I believe we are put on this earth to be of service. It’s how I find meaning in my life. And it's fun!”
-- Dana Delany

 

"Many countries are now experiencing the benefits to be gained when individuals are provided the necessary means to undertake voluntary action in their own communities."
-- Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme

"Despite the important progress underway, much work remains to be done in terms of recognizing and harnessing the full potential of volunteerism for development. It is indeed events like International Volunteer Day that help to highlight the impact volunteers are having in every region."
-- Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme

"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

The greatest poverty that can afflict the human spirit is the loss of a generous heart. You will know that success has slipped away when your passion for helping others grows cold.
-- Bill Lane Doulos

The debt that each generation owes to the past, it must pay to the future.
-- Abigail Scott Dunaway

Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud.
-- Helen Dyer

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

 
* "Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time."
-- 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

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

 

Paul Revere earned his living as a silversmith. But what do we remember him for? His volunteer work. All activism is volunteering in that it's done above and beyond earning a living and deals with what people really care passionately about. Remember, no one gets paid to rebel. All revolutions start with volunteers.
-- Susan J. Ellis

* "Volunteering is so pervasive it's invisible. We take for granted all the things that have been pioneered by concerned, active volunteers."
-- Susan J. Ellis

 

* "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

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-- 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

 

* “...the world is a giant community now. This excuse of distance, time, doesn’t work...We’re all so connected. We can’t spend every second of our lives worrying about another family miles away but we somehow have to factor it in where we can."
-- Ralph Fiennes

* 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

* "It is in giving oneself that one receives."
-- Saint Francis of Assisi

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.
-- Saint Francis of Assisi

"How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world."
-- Anne Frank

 

* Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.
-- Benjamin Franklin

I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
-- Mahatma Gandhi

* "The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others."
-- Mahatma Gandhi

 

* “Whatever community organization, whether it's a women's organization, or fighting for racial justice … you will get satisfaction out of doing something to give back to the community that you never get in any other way.”
-- Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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)

He who does nothing for others does nothing for himself
-- Goethe

 

* "If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of twenty million full-time volunteers."
--Whoopi Goldberg

* "When you are kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire."
-- Whoopi Goldberg

 

"I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced that they are about to change the world. I am more awed by ... those who ... struggle to make one small difference after another."
-- Ellen Goodman

"One of the things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people. "
-- Dick Gregory

I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.
-- Stephen Grellet

-- "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 something that I can do."
-- Edmund Everett Hale

"Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It's important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It's the way in which we ourselves grow and develop..."
-- Dr. Dorothy I. Height

 

* "If you ever need a helping hand, it is at the end of your arm. As you get older you must remember you have a second hand. The first one is to help yourself. The second hand is to help others."
-- Audrey Hepburn

 

"Help your sister's boat across the water, and yours too will reach the other side." Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind."
-- Eric Hoffer (1902-83)

The heart of a volunteer is not measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others.
-- DeAnn Hollis

 

Quotes For Volunteers

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Volunteer Day - December 5

MLK Day of Service - 3rd Monday in January

 

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Thanks to Anukul Gurung for the fairy image of Emily
Thanks to Fletcher Grayson/Gray Media for creating The Emily Fund logo

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- for a Better
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