Be
a Hero for a Better World ... Every Act of Kindness Makes
a Difference!
Living
a Life of Compassion
*
Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.
-- Edward
Abbey
"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
*
The positive value of anger is not limited to peace
activists, but is relevant to all who work for social
change. It may be argued that anger is the personal
fuel in the social motor that resolves the institutional
contradictions that arise in the course of history.
As such. it applies to the activists who rid the world
of slavery, and who moved the political economic systems
from feudalism to capitalism and from capitalism to
socialism, and who are fighting today to rid the world
of racism and sexism.
-- David
Adams
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
*"We
have to do what we can to help wherever and whenever
it is possible for us to help."
-- Jackie
Chan
"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
*
"I'm a liberal.
I'm confused when that became a bad word..."
-- George
Clooney
I
was raised to speak out about politics and the world
around me. I would do it whether I was in the public
or not. It is the way I was taught. The American way.
--
Judy
Collins
Do
what you love, and you will find the way to get it
out to the world.
-- Judy
Collins
"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
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
"We
have a responsibility to look after our planet. It
is our only home." --
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
“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.” -- W. E. B. Du Bois
"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
"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)
*“...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
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
Washing
one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and
the powerless means to side with the powerful, not
to be neutral. -
-- Paulo
Freire
Not
he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.
-- Erich Fromm
*
"Be
the change you want to see in the world."
-- Mohandas
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
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
I
look for what's of value and extract that. I don't
look to criticize.
-- Herbie
Hancock
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 (b. 1926)
*
“Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light,
give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope,
help me cope, with this heavy load, trying to, touch
and reach you with, heart and soul”
-- George
Harrison
“Give
me love, give
me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me
free from birth, give me hope, help me cope, with this heavy
load, trying to touch and reach you with heart and soul”
--
George Harrison
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
Life
isn't all about what you don't have, but yet, what you do
with what you have been given.
-- Robert M. Hensel
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
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
“How
could I be out there and not do anything?”
~ Jay-Z
"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 beings feels pleasure in doing good to another.
-- Thomas
Jefferson
We'll
fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing
My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
I am never broken
In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters
-- Jewel
There
are no problems we cannot solve together, and very few that
we can solve alone.
-- Lyndon Baines Johnson
"Love
one person, take care of them until you die. You know,
raise kids. Have a good life. Be a good friend. And
try to be completely who you are. And figure out what
you personally love. And like go after it with everything
you've got no matter how much it takes."
~ Angelina
Jolie
"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)
"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, 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
Some
people see things as they are and say 'why', I look
at things that never were and say 'why not'.
-- Robert
F. Kennedy
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.
*
"Because the suffering of any human being diminishes
all of us, it’s our responsibility to try to ease
that suffering. It is not a matter of titles, but
of responsibilities.”
-- Khaled
"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.
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
wrote the song "Show Me" as a prayer to God asking
simple, honest questions about life and death and
why there is so much suffering in the world. As I
grew with the song I realized I shouldn't limit these
questions solely to God; I should ask those questions
of others and of myself."
-- John
Legend
*"Why
wouldn't I help? What good reason do I have as a human
being with power and a sense of empathy and morality,
why wouldn't I do something?"
-- John
Legend
*
"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
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
Things
can fall apart, or threaten to, for many reasons,
and then there's got to be a leap of faith. Ultimately,
when you're at the edge, you have to go forward or
backward; if you go forward, you have to jump together.
-- Yo-Yo
Ma
Hey
you,
Open your heart, it's not so strange
You've got to change this time -- Madonna
“Jesus'
message was to love your neighbour as yourself, and
there are people in need. I hope that people got that
message." --
Madonna
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
No
matter the bad things that happened in past time,
let's try to live the best we can now.
-- Ziggy
Marley
“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
I
remind myself of the power of thought and how it's
my obligation as a citizen (and student) of humanity
to propel compassion.
-- Alyssa
Milano
I
remind myself of the power of thought and how it's my
obligation as a citizen (and student) of humanity to
propel compassion.
-- Alyssa
Milano
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)
I
am not here for me
I am not here to promote my ego
I am here to serve the Great Spirit
To be a voice for those afraid to speak
To be movement for those who are stuck
I am here to reveal a mystery
To learn something new about myself
-- Holly
Near
"We
live in such a corporate world where everyone is
passing the buck, it seems to me. Therefore I like
stories where the individual takes responsibility
for BEING the individual, and not just for himself,
but for his comrades, his society and ultimately
for his country. Ultimately, we can all learn a
lesson from that and not be browbeaten by the corporate
world which is taking over."
-- Liam
Neeson
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.
Memories
of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue
in others.
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
*
I
try to live my life every day in the present, and
try not to turn a blind eye to injustice and need.
-- Susan
Sarandon
*
When
you start to develop your powers of empathy and imagination,
the whole world opens up to you.
"At
a time when everything seems so out of control and the people
you've elected are bogus and there's so much random violence
and hatred, it fills you with such hope and admiration to
even be part for a short time in a community where people
have connected to strangers to try to put out a hand. "
-- Susan
Sarandon
I
think I'm an actor because I have very strong imagination
and empathy. I never studied acting, but those two qualities
are exactly the qualities that make for an activist.
-- Susan
Sarandon
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
“You
have to count on living every single day in a way you believe
will make you feel good about your life--so that if it were
over tomorrow, you'd be content with yourself.” - Jane Seymour
"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
...you
can make little choices that can change the world
to be a better, happier, lovelier place every day
-- Alicia
Silverstone
It's
important to see what we can do to make a difference,
but it's more important to me to do it every single
day.
-- Alicia
Silverstone
I've
gained so much confidence as a woman from figuring
out that I don't want to be destructive. I don't want
to stomp through the world and be number one. I just
want to tread really lightly and not destroy anything.
Hopefully, I can try to mend some things. That's my
goal.
-- Alicia
Silverstone
"My
life has become about trying to find effective ways to be
as responsible with the choices I make -- in food, clothing
and everything else. I don't want to be responsible for
the harm of any creature, person or animal."
-- Alicia
Silverstone
"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
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.
-- 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 (1884-1972)
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
"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is
listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live
like it's heaven on Earth."
-- Mark
Twain
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
It
is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we
should take seriously.
-- Peter
Ustinov
*
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
*
"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
