Quotes

We post quotables by newest submission first.

What the mind of a Man can conceive and believe, he can achieve.

--Unknown Submitted by Albert Kwansa-Adjei

When you volunteer it means you give yourself without any regression, without condition, but with full devotion...

--Unknown Submitted by Faith Tomaquin

If just one person believes in you
Deep enough and strong enough
Believes in you hard enough and long enough
Before you knew it, someone else would think "If he can do it, I can do it"
Making it two.
Two whole people who believe in you.
And maybe even you can believe in you too.

--Robin and the Muppet Gang, from "It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things to Consider" Submitted by April

In order to motivate others, you must first become a source of motivation by yourself. It simply means that if you want to get anything done through others, you must first do it yourself.

-- Hazrat Ilyas Attar Qadri Submitted by Muhammad Umer Attari

The human contribution is the essential ingredient. It is only in the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.

--Ethel Percy Andrus Submitted by Lindsey Garner

If you don't have any charity in your heart you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

--Bob Hope Submitted by Judi Reed

Opportunity + Preparedness = Success. Volunteer to help others be prepared for the opportunities afforded them.

--Unknown Submitted by Rick Wery

I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.

--Lily Tomlin Submitted by Joyce Flaugher

Discover why some of the richest people in the world are not millionaires, they are volunteers.

--Unknown Submitted by Jobail Brcelona

It just feels like through our little projects and visits, we are being the hands and feet of God.

--Found in a newspaper and quoted by "Women from Faith" a United Methodist group located in Wolcott, NY. Submitted by Linda Geno

And of all glad words
of prose or rhyme,
The gladdest are
"Act while there
yet is time"

--Franklin P. Adams Submitted by Pat Spain

[I am a co-creator], an active agent in this universe who makes things happen. If I want the world to change, I have to change it.

--Danah Zohar Submitted by Renee Harms

One Hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of house you lived in... what kind of car you drove... what your bank balance was...but what will matter is that you were important in the life of a child.

--Adapted from a quote by Forest Witcraft Submitted by Lynn Hamilton

It wasn't the reward that mattered or the recognition you might harvest. It was your depth of commitment, your quality of service, the product of your devotion -- these were the things that counted in life. When you gave purely, the honor in giving, and that was honor enough.

--Captain Scott O'Grady Submitted by Kristyna

When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.

--Chinese Proverb Submitted by Jennifer Cali

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

--Antoine de Saint-Exupery Submitted by Zoe Mckenzie

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."

--Muhammad Ali Submitted by David Edwards

When were the good and the brave ever in a majority?

--Henry David Thoreau Submitted by Nancy McGee

A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows

--St. Francis of Assisi Submitted by Nancy McGee

The road to success is not crowded. Because while most are looking for ways to take, the truly successful people are finding ways to give. With a giving attitude, every situation is an opportunity for success.

--Unknown Submitted by Gracie Harrison

Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation's compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain love for one another.

--Erma Brombeck Submitted by several colleagues

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

--G. Thomas Gale Submitted by Diane Klebanow

When kids volunteer it tells others that they don't have to be perfect or famous or even grown up to make a difference.

--Kalynn Dobos, age 7 Submitted by Sheralyn Dobos

Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful.

--Unknown Submitted by Bernadette Bowie

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain!

--Unknown Submitted by Vivian Greene

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and to impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.

--Woodrow Wilson Submitted by Lori Farley

Take Care of People - People before Paper, People before Profits, People before Self and People before Projects

--Unknown Submitted by Carol S. Ritter, Speaker on Non-Profit and Educational Leadership

If you see someone without a smile ....give them one of yours.

--Unknown Submitted by Becky Heimbach

No one cares what you know, unless they know that you care.

--Unknown Submitted by Charles D. Powell

I believe in the spirit of sharing and I believe we are what we are because of those around us.

I am what I am because of other people and they are what they are because of me being around.

One hand cannot clap on its own but it needs the other hand to make a clap.

Many hands make light work.

--Maasai tribal sayings Submitted by Kores Ole Musuni

Who will comfort those who are alone at the end of their long journey?
Who will hold the hand of those who grieve for a loved one lost?
Who gives a smile to those who have not had companionship in a long while?
A hospice Volunteer.

Most avoid death and those who will soon meet it.
Most are afraid to reach out and make a friend they know they will lose.
Most cringe at the thought of spending time with a stranger, but not you,
A hospice volunteer.

In a patient's darkest hours, you shine a beam of light.
When a family in the time of greatest need, you are there to help.
A smile, a hand, a few hours time - such precious gifts given,
By you, a hospice volunteer.

--Unknown Submitted by Beth Cantrell

If you're watching to learn....Watch!
If you're watching for a break....Speak up!
If you're watching for me to stop....Leave!
If you're here to help....Grab a shovel!

--Original Composition Submitted by Suzanne Carroll

In doing your best serving others for free, a lot of eyebrows will raise and sneers will curve many a-faces. But in the end those incredulous to what you put up with to help, no longer matter. It's not between you and those snobs, but with whom you have given your hand to lift, and of course to God who is watching and noting it in your book.

--Inspired by Mother Theresa Submitted by Ding Franco

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

--Unknown Submitted by Catherine Aird

I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.

--Albert Schweitzer Submitted by Susie Kapelovitz

Volunteers don't just do the work - they make it work.

--Unknown Submitted by Carol Pettit

Because I know I can contribute, I therefore believe I can volunteer my contribution.

--Unknown Submitted by Preston Tulay, former Peace Corps and UN Volunteer

Volunteers, a precious resource we can not afford to lose.

--Unknown Submitted by Denise Penn

Volunteers are not mere workers.

A worker could be good at working, but not at planning or decision-making. Similarly, the planners and decision-makers could be good at their jobs, but not at executing them. They are specialists, whereas volunteers are all-rounder. They are good as workers, as executioners, as planners, as decision makers, as initiators, and as leaders.

Volunteers work without any personal motivation. They work to benefit others, not themselves. This makes them workers par excellence, executioners and leader par excellence. The Volunteer Dharma, therefore, is dharma par excellence.

To volunteer is to live in accordance with dharma in accordance with the values of righteousness, selflessness, and above all egolessness. To volunteer is to practice humbleness; to volunteer is to live in synchronicity with Mother Nature, loving, caring, and sharing as She does.

A Volunteer is essentially a Spiritual Practitioner, a Sadhaka, a Karma Yogi one who is striving for the ultimate union with the Supreme through selfless action. Blessed, indeed, are all of you, engaged in this holy work.

--general Submitted by Anand Krishna

Effective volunteer leaders are the "keys" by which we unlock volunteer hands and minds.

A volunteer leader's personal passion for the group's mission is contagious and it motivates.

--The Hampton Roads Business Journal Submitted by John M. Knibb

It is imperative to ask our self every morning "what will I give those around me today?

One cannot feel self-worth without giving.

--Unknown Submitted by Hisham El Rouby

Knowing that you are helping to create a peaceful world and a safer planet is only a fraction of the pride that a volunteer should feel every time they lend an helping hand.

To volunteer; is to contribute your goodness and works to humanity unselfishly, without seeking any rewards.

--Unknown Submitted by Dennis E. Adonis

VOLUNTEERISM proves that - In every straining, there is a training; in every training, there is a learning; and in every learning, there is an earning.

--Unknown Submitted by Chris Ebenezer

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