Quotes About Altruism

In our hearts there is a ruthless dictator, ready to contemplate the misery of a thousand strangers if it will ensure the happiness of the few we love.

He said, 'Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.' This was the love he should have felt for every soul in the world: all the fear and the wish to save concentrated unjustly on the one child. He began to weep.... He thought: This is what I should feel all the time for everyone.

Amid all the bangs and the drama and the grand passions, it's kindness and just ordinary goodness that stands out in the end.

I think of heroes as ordinary people who decide to give a damn about what they do, not what they might get.

One of the ironies of courage, and the reason why we prize it so highly, is that we find it easier to be brave for someone else than we do for ourselves alone.

The simple fact is that fighting to save a life is a better and more enduring reason than fighting to end one.

And I'd learned, the hard way, that sometimes, even with the purest intentions, we make things worse when we do our best to make things better.

That's all I want- to do no harm.

perhaps charity is the kind of beauty that we comprehend the best because we miss it the most.

Doing what we can to repair the world was instilled in me from an early age. I will never forget my siblings and me knitting squares for blankets to be sent to the troops during World War II. This was an inspiration from my mother.

My father, John Steinbeck, was a man who held human history in great reverence, and in particular the biographies of those people who had risked their lives, their fortunes, and their worldly honor to defend the rights and prerogatives of those who were powerless to defend themselves.

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.

People know Paul as the car guy, but he created Reach Out Worldwide because he actually wanted to get his hands dirty and wanted to help people and he didn't want to get the publicity for that.

Service is the only thing that's important about love. Everybody is worried about 'losing yourself' - all this narcissism. Duty. We can't stand that idea now either... But duty might be a suit of armor you put on to fight for your love.

Generally, I have a strong interest in trying to help people who are maybe not as lucky as I am. I've been well rewarded in this world. I'm more worried about the next one.

It may sound crazy to people, but I don't follow any spiritual leader or worship at any house of God. I just feel you should be good to people around you, your family and friends.

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

When times are at their worst, it's amazing what people will do for you.

If what I have to do is share a sandwich to lift someone's spirits, put a smile on their face - the worst thing that happens is I go broke!

The worth of a human being lies in the ability to extend oneself, to go outside oneself, to exist in and for other people.

Seek always to do some good, somewhere. Every man has to seek in his own way to realize his true worth. You must give some time to your fellow man. For remember, you don't live in a world all your own. Your brothers are here too.

I know nothing worth the living for but usefulness and the service of my fellow-creatures. The only object I pursue is to increase, as far as lies in my power, the quantity of their knowledge and goodness and happiness.

The pleasure we derive from doing favors is partly in the feeling it gives us that we are not altogether worthless. It is a pleasant surprise to ourselves.

It's not a bad thing fighting for equality and helping the poor. It's not a bad thing to have on your professional tombstone: 'He believed in equality and he helped the poor.'