Quotes

We post quotables by newest submission first.

"As long as we live; The future is bright; even if the road continues to be torturous!"

--Asavela Peko Submitted by Asavela Peko, Founder, Learner's Movement of South Africa, Delft

Volunteerism is currency that appreciates.

--Website of Administrators of Volunteer Resources BC Submitted by Susan J. Ellis

"Be the change you want to see in the world"...and, if you can't be that change, then either get out of the way of the person who wants to be that change or support the individual with your financial resources.

--Mahatma Gandhi...modified by Nicole S. Lawrence Submitted by Nicole S. Lawrence

Men have always volunteered, they just called themselves coaches, trustees, and firemen!

--Susan J. Ellis, president of Energize Submitted by Susan

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, president of Energize Submitted by Susan

Anything can be accomplished as long as you don't care who gets the credit.

--Unknown Submitted by Sue

Who then can so softly bind up the wound of another as he who has felt the same wound himself.

--Thomas Jefferson Submitted by Ed Madara, Director, American & NJ Group Self-Help Group Clearinghouses

The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to him his own.

--Benjamin Disraeli Submitted by several colleagues

In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy.

--Karl Reiland Submitted by Ed Madara, Director, American & NJ Group Self-Help Group Clearinghouses

The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life -- the children; those who are in the twilight of life -- the elderly; and those who are in the shadow of life -- the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.

--Hubert Humphrey Submitted by Barbara H.

Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve...You don't have to know the secod theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

--Martin Luther King Submitted by Several people

Our nation will succeed or fail to the degree that all of us -- citizens and businesses alike -- are active participanats in building strong, sustainable and enriching communities.

--Arnold Hiatt, President, The Stride Rite Foundation Submitted by Barbara H.

In American Society today, we need to have volunteerism. I truly believe that it is the glue that will hold us together and it will be the energy that will take us into the 21st century.

--U.S Senator Barabara Mikulski Submitted by Barbara H.

What volunteers bring is the human touch, the individual, caring approach that no government program, however well-meaning and well-executed, can deliver.

--Edward James Olmos Submitted by Barbara H.

You tell me and I forget. You teach me and I remember. You involve me and I learn.

--Ben Franklin Submitted by Prof. Andrew Lewis, Director of Community Development, The Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations

In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life and they lost it all -- security, comfort and freedom.... When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free.

--Edward Gibbon Submitted by Prof. Andrew Lewis, Director of Community Development, The Learning Institute for Nonprofit Organizations

It's not how high we jump off our feet in church, it's what we do with them when we hit the ground!

--Governor Tom Ridge Submitted by Redd Torres Eakin

Volunteers are not servants. Volunteers are partners working together for improving America's future.

--Mayor Richard Daly Submitted by Redd Torres Eakin

The era of big government is over, but the era of big challenge is not. We need an era of big citizenship. There are many important people at this summit, but the most important title is 'citizen.' This is our republic. Let us keep it!

--President Bill Clinton Submitted by Redd Torres Eakin

We are not here to enjoy the things on earth, but to pass them around. The people who do it are the happiest people you know!

--President George Bush Submitted by Redd Torres Eakin

We are not going to dwell on those things that divide us. We are going to rejoice in those things that keep us together to make this a better country- to reach down and back to touch every young person in need!

--Gen. Colin Powell Submitted by Redd Torres Eakin

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.

--Henry Drummond Submitted by Linda Soos-Davis

Bloom where you are planted.

--Mother Jones Submitted by Keeble

If you don't believe one person can make a difference, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.

--Anita Roddick Submitted by Pam Betz

Your corn is ripe today, mine will be so tomorrow. 'Tis profitable for us both that I should labor with you today, and that you should aid me tomorrow. I have no kindness for you, and know you have as little for me. I will not, therefore, take any pains upon your account . . . Here then I leave you to labor alone; you treat me in the same manner. The seasons change, and both of us lose our harvests for want of mutual confidence and security.

--David Hume Submitted by Meagan Goreski

May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion.

--Thomas Jefferson Submitted by Rex Morey

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 Submitted by Dena Spanos-Hawkey

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.

--Thomas Paine Submitted by Dena Spanos-Hawkey

In proportion as one renders service he becomes great.

--Booker T. Washington Submitted by Dena Spanos-Hawkey

In my career, I learned that giving your services for free gives you a good return on your investment, not just financially but morally. It supplements your personal integrity.

--Stevie Wonder Submitted by Dena Spanos-Hawkey

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson Submitted by Dena Spanos-Hawkey

I feel the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.

--Jonas Salk Submitted by Dena Spanos-Hawkey

Reach for the stars. You might not get them, but you won't wind up with a handful of mud either!

--Unknown Submitted by Linda Gray-Mitchell

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.

--Marilyn Von Savant Submitted by Carol Freed

The debt that each generation owes to the past, it must pay to the future.

--Abigail Scott Dunaway Submitted by Carol Freed

If your ship doesn't come in. Swim out to it.

--Jonathan Winters Submitted by Paul Goebel

A volunteer is like a rare gem. When placed in the right setting and cared for, they will shine and give pleasure to all who see them.

--Unknown Submitted by Marianne Bourgault, Volunteer Coordinator, Perkins Branch Library

He who has never fallen knows no heights.

--Unknown Submitted by Sabrina Mathusz

Whatever you can do, or dream you can... begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

--Goethe Submitted by Joe Copeland

There aren't any great men. There are just great challenges that ordinary men like you and me are forced by circumstances to meet.

--William f. Halsey, Jr. Submitted by KA Felker

When people forget themselves, they usually do things others remember.

--James Coco Submitted by KA Felker

When giving comes directly from the heart, it can never disappoint or embarrass.

--Bel Kaufman Submitted by Lynne Ferrell

Go out and do something for somebody. Go out and give something to somebody. It will take you away from yourself and make you happy.

--Joseph Jefferson Submitted by Lynne Ferrell

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.

--Eleanor Roosevelt Submitted by Nan Hawthorne

Happiness is thinking of myself; joy is thinking of others.

--Unknown Submitted by Raymond

Our good works are like stones cast into the pool of time; though the stones themselves may disappear, their ripples extend to eternity.

--Unknown Submitted by Heidi

The only one who likes change is a wet baby!

--Unknown Submitted by Theresa Osborne, Executive Secretary for the Women's Institutes of Nova Scotia

When we dream alone, it is only a dream, but when we dream together, it is the beginning of reality.

--Unknown Submitted by Nancy Sutter, Volunteer Coordinator for Peel Children's Centre

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

--Martin Luther King Submitted by Nancy Sutter, Volunteer Coordinator for Peel Children's Centre

Some people dream of worthy accomplishments while others stay awake and do them!

--Unknown Submitted by Nancy Sutter, Volunteer Coordinator for Peel Children's Centre

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