Quotes About Altruism

Ralph Waldo Emerson explains, "It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.

I don't like happy people," Andrew said. "They're already happy; they don't need to be liked." "Wow, so selfless," Mark said. "You're a saint. I commend your selflessness. Amazing.

When we are free of self-concern or self-pity, free of inner preoccupations, compassion emerges as a spontaneous expression of our awareness

As another general antidote for distress, the Dalai Lama recommends caring for others despite our own problems. "The space of awareness is small, so our personal distress looms large," as he puts it. "But the moment you think of helping others, the mind expands, and our own problems seem smaller.

In the Buddhist tradition, one who has realized the fullness of compassion and lives from compassion is called a bodhisattva.

Ethical egoism is the thesis that a person should act to promote his own interest. More precisely, it is the view that each person's primary moral obligation is to achieve his own well-being and he should not sacrifice his well-being for the well-being of others.

As Shantideva writes in this beautiful prayer: As long as space endures As long as sentient beings remain, Until then may I too remain To dispel the miseries of the world.

So ethical conduct, practicing a moral life, is not something that can effectively be enforced from the outside but must grow out of a subjective understanding of what helps and what harms others.

We avoid harming others not simply because the actions themselves might have obviously negative repercussions, but because the mind that generates an unethical action will cause suffering for ourselves and others in less discernable ways in the future.

It takes being together to another level when you go to bed for a purpose larger than your own feelings.

It's a funny thing about love: you don't need to have it returned to love somebody. Loving's enough. -- A Prologue to Love

unconditional love asks nothing, not even that it be returned.

None of us are saints, but we can all try to be better. Each time you do something generous, you're shaping yourself into someone who's more likely to be generous next time, and that matters.

Loving someone means making sacrifices for them.

I view the world as incidental to my aims, while he cannot allow someone with enhanced intelligence to work purely in self-interest.

Each time you do something generous, you're shaping yourself into someone who's more likely to be generous next time, and that matters.

concept of ren: inadequately conveyed by "benevolence," that quality which is quintessentially human, which can only be cultivated through interaction with others, and which a solitary person cannot manifest.

After all, there's a significant service to humanity in spending time doing no harm,

You should encourage your children to see the needs of those around them.

Spare all I have, and take my life.

My philanthropy is no relation to anybody else's. None. My philanthropy and what we do at the foundation speaks for itself and has no relation to anyone's.

As a species, I think if we could be half as good as dogs, I think the world would be a much better place.

I've always been passionate about giving back, not just anywhere, but to my city specifically. That's extremely important to me.

If we don't spend our time on this earth looking out for one another, what are we really doing with our lives?