Quotes About Selflessness

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say "We have done this ourselves." —Lao-Tsu, founder of Daoism

True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ's great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.

Jesus said in His most remarkable sermon ever: "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?" (Matthew 5:46-47) I make an appeal for us to reach beyond our own contentment, to move out of our own comfort and companion zones, to reach those who may not always be so easy to reach. If we do less, what distinguishes us from the biblical publican?

If I don't return, make sure Hercules moves on from all of this," Meg said. "Meg..." Phil swallowed hard. It was the first time he'd called her by her actual name. She tried to put her spinning thoughts into words. "I don't want him wasting his immortality on me. He's a good guy who gives so much of himself. He deserves to have someone do that for him in return. Got it?" Phil looked at her. "Wow, you really do love the guy, don't you?

Nothing is too much to ask when it is done out of love,

As Jesus explained, the right things have to die so the right things can live—we die to selfishness, greed, power, accumulation, prestige, and self-preservation, giving life to community, generosity, compassion, mercy, brotherhood, kindness, and love. The gospel will die in the toxic soil of self.

If we all raised others up instead of raising ourselves a little higher, there would be few needs left on earth.

It started as a selfish act and has turned into a way of life. I can't stand to watch someone throw anything away that belongs in my green bin.

Growing up means curbing appetites, shifting from "me" to "we," understanding private choices have social consequences and public outcomes.

Jesus was tender toward brokenness but impatient toward egotism.

And still, after all this time,       the Sun has never said to the Earth,       ââ'¬Å"You owe me."       Look what happens with love like that. It lights up the sky. —Rumi

And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with love like that. It lights up the sky. —Rumi

We are here to share, we really are, which is why greed doesn't bring joy to anyone.

giving is one of our greatest joys.

Give comes from abundance, get comes from lack. Place your focus on abundance and strengthen your faith by giving away money every day for twenty-nine days. Give as little as a nickel or as much as you can in whatever way you can. Do it secretly whenever possible.

It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.     ââ'¬â€RalphWaldo Emerson; American poet, essayist, visionary, giver

How wise she was, knowing when to let go, and having the strength and generosity to put the needs of the people she loved above her own.

To love, to truly love another—that is not for the faint of heart. Why, I've seen a husband mop the brow of his plague-ridden wife, heedless of his own safety. I've seen a murderer's mother weep at the gallows, and a starving boy give his last crust of bread to his sister. Love is so strong, so ferocious, that she frightens even me. Me…

A good deed needs no excuse.

A good deed needs no excuse. So his pop used to reassure Dexter when he would resist, embarrassed, carrying a covered dish of leftover meatballs to the bums and hoboes who haunted the carny houses near his restaurant. Dexter muttered the phrase to himself as he lifted the heavy folded chair into his trunk. A good deed needs no excuse.

In all our efforts, if we are not about people, our labors aren't really about Jesus but about us.

And as it turns out, as soon as we are willing to be the last, we actually become first. When we admit we are least, we feel like the greatest. And when we lose our lives, we find it all . . . all the love, all the life, all the thrill, all the fulfillment.

Sometimes leadership is planting trees under whose shade you'll never sit. It may not happen fully till after I'm gone. But I know that the steps we're taking are the right steps.

The thing about fear,' said Cadfael, seriously considering, 'is that it is pointless. When need arises, fear is forgotten. Would you recoil from taking a leper's hand, if he needed yours, or you his, to be hauled out of danger? I doubt it. Some men would, perhaps-- but of you I doubt it. You would grip first and consider afterwards, and by then fear would be clearly a mere waste of time.